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tented to  be  there,  in  respect  of  the  love  I  bear  your  house  " 

King  Henry  IV  Part  I  Act  U  Scene  3 


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HENRY  IV.-  Parts  I.  and  II.      p\    2 

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Preface. 


,a 


The  Early  Editions.  (I.)  The  First  Part  of  King 
Henry  the  Fourth,  entered  on  the  Stationers'  Registers, 
under  date  of  February  25,  1597-8,  appeared  for  the  first 
time  in  a  Quarto  edition,  with  the  following  title-page : — 
"  The  History  of  Henrie  the  Fourth ;  with  the  battell  at 
Shrewsburie,  betweene  the  King  and  Lord  Henry  Percy, 
surnamed  Henrie  Hotspur  of  the  North.  With  the 
humorous  conceits  of  Sir  lohn  Falstaffe.  At  London. 
Printed  by  P.  S.  for  Andrew  Wise,  dwelling  in  Paules 
Churchyard,  at  the  signe  of  the  Angell.  1598."  {Cp. 
Grigg's  Facsimile  edition.) 

No  less  than  five  subsequent  Quarto  editions  appeared 
before  the  publication  of  the  play  in  the  first  Folio ;  they 
were  issued  in  1599,  1604,  1608,  161 3,  1622.  Other 
Quartos  belong  to  the  years  1632  and  1639.  Each  edition 
seems  to  have  been  derived  from  its  predecessor. 

The  title  of  the  play  in  the  Folio  is,  "  The  First  Part  of 
Henry  the  Fourth,  with  the  Life  and  Death  of  Henry 
Surnamed  Hotspurre."  The  Cambridge  editors  refer  the 
Folio  text  to  a  partially  corrected  copy  of  the  fifth  Quarto. 
The  earlier  Quartos  were,  however,  probably  consulted 
by  the  corrector. 

(H.)  The  Second  Part  of  King  Henry  the  Fourth  was 
first  published  in  Quarto  in  1600,  with  the  following  title- 
page  : — "  The  Second  part  of  Henrie  the  fourth,  continu- 
ing to  his  death,  and  coronation  of  Henry  the  fifth.  With 
the  humours  of  Sir  John  Falstaffe,  and  swaggering  Pis- 
toll.    As  it  hath  been  sundry  times  publikely  acted  by  the 


Preface  PARTS  I.  AND  II.  OF 

right  honourable  the  Lord  Chamberlaine  his  seruants. 
Written  by  WilHam  Shakespeare.  London.  Printed  by 
V.  S.  for  Andrew  Wise  and  William  Aspley.  1600." 
{Cp.  Grigg's  Facsimile  edition.)  The  play  was  entered 
by  the  publishers  upon  the  Stationers'  Registers  on  Au- 
gust 23rd  of  the  same  year. 

By  some  accident  the  first  scene  of  Act  IIL  had  been 
omitted  in  some  copies  of  the  Quarto.  The  error  was 
rectified  by  inserting  two  new  leaves,  the  type  of  some  of 
the  preceding  and  following  leaves  being  used;  hence 
there  are  two  different  impressions  of  the  latter  part  of 
Act  IL  and  the  beginning  of  Act.  IIL  ii. 

The  text  of  this  Part  in  the  first  Folio  was  probably 
ultimately  derived  from  a  transcript  of  the  original  MS. 
It  contains  passages  which  had  evidently  been  originally 
omitted  in  order  to  shorten  the  play  for  the  stage.  ''  Some 
of  these  are  among  the  finest  in  the  play,  and  are  too 
closely  connected  with  the  context  to  allow  of  the  supposi- 
tion that  they  were  later  additions,  inserted  by  the  author 
after  the  publication  of  the  Quarto"  (Cambridge  editors). 
Similarly,  the  Quarto  contains  passages  not  found  in  the 
Folio,  and  for  the  most  part  "  the  Quarto  is  to  be  regarded 
as  having  the  higher  critical  value." 

Date  of  Composition.  There  is  almost  unanimity 
among  scholars  in  assigning  i  Henry  IV.  to  the  year 
1 596- 1 597.  (i.)  According  to  Chalmers,  the  opening 
lines  of  the  play  '\  plainly  allude  "  to  the  expedition  against 
Spain  in  1596.  Similarly  the  expression  '  the  poor  fellow 
never  joyed  since  the  price  of  oats  rose'  (II.  i.)  may  be 
connected  with  the  Proclamation  for  the  Dearth  of  Corn, 
etc.,  issued  in  the  same  year.  The  introduction  of  the 
word  '  valiant,'  detrimental  to  the  metre  of  the  line,  in 
Act  V.  iv.  41, 

"  The  spirits 
Of   {valiant)   Shirley,  Stafford,  Blunt,  are  in  my  arms," 

may  perhaps  also  point  to  1596-7  as  the  original  date  of 

2 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Preface 

composition :  the  Shirleys  were  knighted  by  the  Queen 
in  1597.  . 

(ii.)  The  earhest  reference  to  the  play  occurs  in  Meres' 
PaUadis  Tamia,  1598;  while  Ben  Jonson  ends  his  Every 
Man  Out  of  His  Humour  with  the  words,  "  You  may  in 
time  make  lean  Macilente  as  fat  as  Sir  John  Falstaff." 
In  the  Pilgrimage  to  Parnassus,  acted  at  St.  John's  Col- 
lege, Cambridge,  Christmas,  1598,  there  are  what  seem  to 
be  obvious  reminiscences  of  the  tapster's  'Anon,  Anon, 
Sir/  *  The  point  is  of  special  interest  in  view  of  Mr.  H. 
P.  Stokes'  suggestion  that  i  Henry  IV.  was  itself  origi- 
nally a  Christmas  play  of  the  previous  year,  1597. 

(iii.)  General  considerations  of  style  corroborate  these 
pieces  of  external  evidence;  its  subtle  characterization, 
"  its  reckless  ease  and  full  creative  power,"  its  commin- 
gling of  the  serious  and  the  comic,  its  free  use  of  verse 
and  prose,  make  the  play  ''  a  splendid  and  varied  historic 
tragi-comedy  "  rather  than  a  mere  "  history," — "  historic 
in  its  personages  and  its  spirit,  yet  blending  the  high 
heroic  poetry  of  chivalry  with  the  most  original  inventions 
of  broad  humour"  (Verplanck).  Henry  IV.  bears,  in 
fact,  the  same  relationship  to  Richard  III.,  King  John, 
and  Richard  II.  that  The  Merchant  of  Venice  does  to  such 
early  comedies  as  Love's  Labour's  Lost,  The  Two  Gentle- 
men, Comedy  of  Errors,  etc.  The  simple  plots  of  the 
earlier  histories  gave  place  to  the  more  co'mplex  Henry 
IV.,  much  in  the  same  way  as  the  simple  love-comedies 
were  succeeded  by  the  polymythic  method  of  The  Mer- 
chant of  Venice.  As  far  as  the  introduction  of  prose  is 
concerned,  the  case  of  the  present  play  is  specially  re- 
markable;! the  earlier  historical  pieces,  following  the 
example  of  Marlowe's  Edzvard  II.,  contained  practically 
no  prose  at  all.    Similarly,  in  his  avoidance  of  rhyme  as  a 

*  Cp.  "  I  shall  no  soooner  open  this  pint  pot  but  the  word  like 
a  knave-lapster  will  cry  '  Anon,  Anon,  Sir,'  "  etc. 

t  1464  lines  of  prose  occur  in  i  Henry  IV.,  and  i860  lines  in  2 
Henry  IV.,  out  of  a  total  3170  and  3437  lines  respectively. 


Preface  PARTS  I.  AND  II.  OF 

trick  of  dramatic  rhetoric,  Shakespeare  shows,  in  Henry 
IV.,  that  he  has  learnt  to  differentiate  between  his  lyrical 
and  dramatic  gifts.  His  earlier  work  in  the  department 
of  history  was  indeed  largely  experimental,  and  bore  many 
marks  of  Shakespeare's  apprentice  hand;  none  of  these 
previous  efforts  produced  a  typically  Shakespearian 
drama ;  in  Henry  IV.  Shakespeare,  as  it  were,  discovered 
himself. 

The  Second  Part  of  Henry  IV.,  "  at  once  the  supple- 
ment and  epilogue  of  the  first  part,  and  the  preparation 
for  the  ensuing  dramatic  history  of  Henry  V.,"  may  with 
certainty  be  dated  1598-9.  Ben  Jonson's  Every  Man  Out 
of  His  Humour,  acted  in  1599,  contains  an  early  allusion 
to  Justice  Silence.*  It  was  probably  not  wTitten,  as  has 
been  maintained  on  insufficient  ground,  before  the  Sta- 
tioners' entry  of  i  Henry  IV.  in  1598,  the  title-page  of  the 
first  Quarto  of  Part  I.,  as  well  as  the  entry,  imply  that  ni 
second  part  was  then  in  existence.  '  Christmas,  1598,' 
may  perhaps  be  the  actual  date  of  its  first  production. 

The  Sources  of  the  Plot.  The  materials  of  both 
parts  of  Henry  IV.  were  derived  from  (I.)  Hall's  and 
Holinshed's  Chronicles,  and  (H.)  from  the  old  play  of 
TJie  Famous  Victories  of  Henry  the  Fifth,  which  was 
acted  before  1588,  and  of  which  editions  appeared  in  1594 
and  1597  (Hazlitt,  Shakespeare  Library,  Pt.  11.  i.  323). 

(I.)  On  the  whole,  Shakespeare  has  followed  history 
closely  in  this  play ;  among  the  most  striking  deviations 
is,  perhaps,  Shakespeare's  intentional  change  in  making 
Hotspur  and  the  Prince  of  the  same  age,  in  order  to 
heighten  the  contrast  between  them.  The  characters  of 
Glendower,  Northumberland,  Mowbray,  the  Archbishop, 
and  Prince  John,  as  well  as  tli^t  of  Hotspur,  have  all  un- 
dergone slight  changes  at  Shakespeare's  hands.  Note- 
worthy errors  (due  to  the  original  Chronicles)  are: — 
(i.)  calling  the  Earl  of  Fife  son  to  the  beaten  Douglas — 

*  Savi.     What's  he,  gentle  Mons.  Brisk?     Not  that  gentleman? 
Fast.     No,  lady;  this  is  a  kinsman  to  Justice  Silence. 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Preface 

an  error  due  to  the  omission  of  a  comma  in  Holinshed ; 
(ii.)  confounding  the  Edward  Mortimer,  prisoner,  and 
afterwards  son-in-law  of  Glendower,  and  second  son  of 
the  first  Earl  of  March,  with  his  nephew  the  Earl  of 
March,  entitled  to  the  throne  by  legitimate  succession,  at 
this  time  a  child  in  close  keeping  at  Windsor  Castle. 
Hence,  in  one  place,  Lady  Percy  is  correctly  styled  Mor- 
timer's sister,  in  another  she  is  referred  to  as  his  aunt 
(Lloyd,  Critical  Essays,  p.  228;  Courtenay's  Commen- 
taries on  the  Historical  Plays,  L  pp.  75-159). 

(IL)  The  old  Chronicle  of  The  Famous  Victories  cer- 
tainly provided  Shakespeare  with  substantial  hints  for  the 
comic  element  of  his  play, — "  Ned,  Gadshill,  the  old  tavern 
in  Eastcheap,  the  hostess,  the  recognition  of  Sir  John  Old- 
castle,  or  at  least  his  horse,  down  even  to  the  '  race  of 
ginger,'  that  was  to  be  delivered  as  far  as  Charing  Cross, 
meet  our  eyes  as  we  turn  over  the  pages,"  but,  in  the 
words  of  the  same  critic,  "  never  before  did  genius  ever 
transmute  so  base  a  caput  mortuum  into  ore  so  precious." 

Falstaff.  Sir  John  Oldcastle,  one  of  the  Prince's  wild 
companions  in  the  old  play,  appears  to  have  been  the 
original  of  the  character  subsequently  called  Sir  John  Fal- 
staff. A  trace  of  the  old  name  is  still  to  be  found  in  i 
Henry  /F.,  where  the  Prince  addresses  the  knight  as  '  my 
old  lad  of  the  castle  '  (L  ii.  45)  :  in  2  Henry  IV.  (Quarto 
i),  the  prefix  Old.  is  found  before  one  of  Falstaff's 
speeches.  The  fact  that  "  Falstaff  "  w^as  substituted  for 
''  Oldcastle  "  throughout  the  plays  perhaps  explains  the 
metrical  imperfections  of  such  a  line  as  '  Azvay,  good  Ned, 
Falstaff  szi'cats  to  death'  (IL  ii.  112).  In  the  final  Epi- 
logue the  change  is  still  further  emphasised  (z'ide  Note 
on  the  passage,  2  Henry  /F.).  The  tradition,  however, 
remained,  and  in  the  Prologue  to  the  play  of  Sir  John 
Oldcastle  (printed  in  1600,  with  Shakespeare's  name  on 
the  title-page  of  some  copies)  direct  reference  is  made  to 
the  degradation  the  Lollard  martyr  had  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  the  dramatist : — 


Preface  PARTS  I.  AND  II.  OF 

"It  is  no  pampered  glutton  ive  present, 
Nor  aged  counsellor  to  youthful  sin, 
But  one  ivhose  virtue  shone  above  the  rest. 
.     .     .     .     Let  fair  truth  he  graced. 
Since  forged  invention  former  times  defaced." 

As  late  as  1618,  Nathaniel  Field,  in  his  Amends  for 
Ladies,  referred  to  "  the  fat  Knight,  hight  Oldcastle," 
and  not  to  Falstaff,  as  he  who  "  truly  told  what  honour 
was."  This  single  passage,  in  Mr.  Halliwell's  opinion, 
would  alone  render  it  highly  probable  that  some  of  the 
theatres  in  acting  Henry  IV.  retained  the  name  after  the 
author  had  altered  it  to  that  of  Falstaff.  (Hence  it  is 
inferring  too  much  to  argue  from  the  prefix  '  Old.'  in  a 
single  passage,  2  Henry  IV.,  I.  ii.  137,  that  the  Second 
Part  of  the  play  was  written  previously  to  the  date  of 
entry  of  the  First  Part,  in  February,  1598.) 

There  is  in  this  case  abundance  of  evidence  to  confirm 
the  ancient  tradition  handed  down  to  us  by  Rowe,  that 
*'  this  part  of  Falstaff  is  said  to  have  been  written  orig- 
inally tmder  the  name  of  Oldcastle ;  some  of  that  family 
being  then  remaining,  the  Queen  was  pleased  to  com- 
mand him  to  alter  it."  ]\Iany  Protestant  writers  protested 
against  the  degradation  of  the  famous  Lollard.  "  It  is 
easily  known,"  wrote  Fuller  in  his  Worthies  of  England 
(ed.  1811,  ii.  p.  131-2),  ''out  of  what  purse  this  black 
penny  came ;  the  Papists  railing  on  him  for  a  heretic,  and 
therefore  he  must  also  be  a  coward,  though  indeed  he  was 
a  man  of  arms,  every  inch  of  him,  and  as  valiant  as  any  in 
his  age."  "^ 

''  Now,"  continued  old  Fuller,  "  as  I  am  glad  that  Sir 
John  Oldcastle  is  put  out,  so  I  am  sorry  that  Sir  John  Fas- 
tolfe  is  put  in.  .  .  .  Nor  is  our  comedian  excusable 
by  some  alteration  of  his  name ;     .     .     .     few  do  heed 

*  Cp.  Tennyson's  Sir  John  Oldcastle,  Lord  Cobham,  with  its 
noble  vindication  of  the  martyr's  character: — 

"  Faint-hearted  f  tut!  fainf-siomached !  faint  as  I  am, 
Qod-ixnlUng,  I  zvill  burn  for  Him." 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Preface 

the  inconsiderable  difference  in  spelling  of  their  name." 
Falstaff  seems  indeed  to  owe  something  more  than  his 
mere  name  to  the  famous  Sir  John  Fastolf  (c.  1 378-1459), 
the  degradation  of  whose  character  comes  out  so  strongly 
in  I  Henry  VI.  (III.  ii.  104-9;  iv.  19-47),  "where  Fas- 
tolf (spelt  Falstaff)  is  portrayed  as  a  contemptible  craven 
in  the  presence  of  Joan  of  Arc's  forces ;  and  as  publicly 
stripped  of  his  garter  by  Talbot." 

Perhaps  Fastolf's  reputed  sympathy  with  Lollardism 
may,  as  Mr.  Gairdner  suggests,  have  encouraged  Shake- 
speare to  bestow  his  name  on  a  character  bearing  the 
appellation  of  an  acknowledged  Lollard  like  Oldcastle. 
Both  characters  suffered  at  the  hands  of  their  enemies ; 
but  the  historical  Sir  John  Fastolf,  even  as  the  historical 
Sir  John  Oldcastle,  found  many  enthusiasts  ready  to  de- 
fend his  memory. 

''  To  avouch  him  by  many  arguments  valiant  is  to  main- 
tain that  the  sun  is  bright,"  wrote  Fuller  in  the  note- 
worthy passage  already  quoted,  though  the  stage  hath 
been  overbold  with  his  memory,  making  him  a  threason- 
ical  puff,  and  emblem  of  mock  valour."  *  {The  Charac- 
ter of  Sir  John  Falstaff,  by  J.  O.  Halliwell,  1841  ;  Gaird- 
ner and  Spedding's  Studies,  pp.  54-77,  ''  On  the  Historical 
Elements  in  Shakespeare's  Falstaff "  \  vide  ''Sir  John 
Fastolf"  in  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  by  Sidney 
Lee,  etc.)  ;  cp.  Preface  to  The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor. 

Duration  of  Action.  (L)  The  time  of  i  Henry  IV., 
as  analysed  by  ]\Ir.  P.  A.  Daniel,  covers  ten  '  historical ' 
days,  with  three  extra  Falstaffian  days,  and  intervals. 
Total  dramatic  time,  three  months  at  the  outside  ( Trans, 
of  Nezv  Shaks.  Soc,  477-79)  * — 

*  "  The  magnificent  knight,  Sir  John  Fastolf.  bequeathed  estates 
to  Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  part  of  which  were  appropriated 
to  buy  hveries  for  some  of  the  senior  scholars ;  but  the  benefac- 
tions in  time  yielding  no  more  than  a  penny  a  week  to  the 
scholars  who  received  the  liveries,  they  were  called,  by  way  of 
contempt,  Falstaff' s  buckram-men"    (Warton), 


Preface  PARTS  I.  AND  II.  OF 

Day  I.     Act  I.  i.     London.     News  of  the  battle  ci 
Holmedon,  etc.    Interval:  a  week  (  ?).  Hot- 
spur comes  to  Court. 
[Day  I  a.  Act  1.  ii.    London.    Falstaff,  Prince  Hal,  etc. 
The  robbery  at  Gadshill  planned.] 

Day  2.  Act.  L  iii.  Rebellion  of  the  Percys  planned. 
Interval:   some  three  or  four  weeks. 

Day  3.     Act  H.  iii.     Hotspur  resolves  to  join  the  con- 
federates   at    Bangor.      Interval:    a   week. 
Hotspur  and  Worcester  reach  Bangor. 
[Days  2a,  30.    Act  H.  i.  ii.  iv. ;  (Act  HL  ii.)  ] 

Day  4.  Act  HI.  i.  Bangor.  Interval:  about  a  fort- 
night. 

Day  5.  Act  HL  ii.  Prince  Hal  and  his  father.  In- 
terval: about  a  week. 

Day  6.  Act  HL  iii.  Prince  Hal  informs  Falstaff  of 
his  appointment  to  a  charge  of  foot  for  the 
wars.    Interval:  a  week. 

Day  7.  Act  IV.  i.  Rebel  camp  near  Shrewsbury. 
Interval. 

Day  8.     Act  IV.  ii.    Near  Coventry. 

Day  9.  Act  IV.  iii.  The  rebel  camp.  Act  IV.  iv. 
York. 

Day  10.  Act  V.  i.  to  v.     The  battle  of  Shrewsbury. 

The  historic  period  represented  ranges  from  the  defeat  of 
Mortimer  by  Glendower,  12th  June,  1402,  to  the  Battle  of 
Shrewsbury,  21st  July,  1403. 

(II.)   The  time  of  2  Henry  IV.  occupies  nine  days  as 
represented  on  the  stage,  with  three  extra  Falstaffian  days, 
comprising  altogether  a  period  of  about  two  months  : — 
Day  I.     Act  I.  i.    Interval. 

Day  2.     Act  I.  iii. ;  Act  II.  iii.    Interval  (within  which 
fall  Day  la :  Act  I.  ii.  and  Day  2a :  Act  II. 
i.  ii.  iv.). 
Day  3  (the  morrow  of  Day  2a)  :  Act  III.  i.    Interval. 
Day  4.     Act  III.  ii.    Interval. 
Day  5.     Act  IV.  i.-iii.    Interval, 
8 


KING  HENRY  IV. 


Preface 


Day  6.     Act  IV.  Iv.  v. 

Day  y.     Act  V.  ii.     Interval  (including  Day  3a:   Act 

V.  i.  iii.). 
Day  8.     Act  V.  iv. 
Day  9.     Act  V.  v. 

The  historic  period  covers  from  21st  July,   1403,  to  9th 
April,  1413. 


The  Battle  of  Shrewsbury. 

From  a  drawing  bv  John  Rous  (c.  1485)  in  the  L.tfe  of  Rzchard  Beau  champ 

Earl  of  Warwick  i,MS.  Cott  Jul.  E.  iv.). 


THE  FIRST  PART  OF 


Critical  Comments. 
I. 

Argument. 

I,  After  Bolingbroke  has  deposed  Richard  11.  of 
England  and  ascended  the  throne  as  Henry  IV.,  he 
seeks  a  time  of  peace  to  go  on  his  long-contemplated 
crusade;  but  is  dissuaded  from  his  purpose  by  the  news 
of  uprisings  and  battles  in  Wales  and  Scotland.  The 
Scots  under  the  command  of  Douglas  make  an  incur- 
sion and  at  Holmedon  suffer  defeat  by  the  English 
forces  of  Northumberland's  son,  Henry  Percy,  the  fa- 
mous Hotspur  of  history.  The  King  no  sooner  hears 
of  the  victor}^  than  he  demands  the  prisoners.  These 
Hotspur  is  unwilling  to  give  up  unless  the  King  will 
ransom  Percy's  kinsman,  Alortimer.  They  quarrel ;  and 
Hotspur  sends  his  prisoners  home  without  ransom  and 
plots  with  both  the  Scots  and  the  Welsh  to  overthrow 
the  sovereign  he  had  so  recently  helped  to  seat. 

II,  The  madcap  pranks  and  dissolute  companions  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales  are  a  source  of  anxiety  to  his  father. 
The  Prince's  boon  companion  is  a  corpulent  warrior,  Sir 
John  Falstaff,  who  wars  mainly  with  his  tongue  and  the 
wine-bottle.  Falstaff  and  three  companions  rob  some 
travellers  on  the  highway,  and  are  set  upon  in  turn  by 
the  Prince  and  one  comrade  in  disguise,  w^ho  put  them  to 
flight;  and  when  later  Falstaff  would  boast  of  his  imagi- 
nary encounter  with  innumerable  foes  the  Prince  has  a 
hearty  laugh  at  his  expense.  His  merriment  is  inter- 
rupted by  news  from  the  court  of  Hotspur's  rising  in  the 
north. 

10 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Conynents 

III.  ThotPrince  immediately  awakes  to  a  sense  of  his 
responsibilities,  assures  his  royal  father  of  his  intention 
to  be  more  worthy  of  the  title  of  Prince,  and  is  entrusted 
with  a  wing  of  the  army  that  is  proceeding  against  Hot- 
spur. 

IV.  Hotspur  is  disadvantaged  by  the  non-arrival  of 
bodies  of  troops  counted  on  by  him  from  his  father  and 
from  Wales.  Nevertheless  he  encamps  at  Shrewsbury, 
and  resolves  on  instant  battle  when  the  royal  troops  ap- 
proach. 

V.  The  King  leads  his  army  in  person,  and  before 
Shrewsbury  holds  parley  with  the  rebels,  to  whom  he 
promises  pardon  if  they  will  lay  down  their  arms.  But 
Hotspur  is  misinformed  of  the  terms  of  parley  and  gives 
battle.  In  the  spirited  and  decisive  contest  the  rebels  are 
defeated.  Hotspur  is  slain  by  the  Prince — though  credit 
for  the  death  is  claimed  by  the  rascally  Falstaff — and 
King  Henry  begins  to  realize  the  true  worth  of  his 
valiant  son. 

McSpadden  :  Shakespearian  Synopses. 

II. 

Henry,  Prince  of  Wales. 

With  respect  to  Henry's  youthful  foUies,  Shakspere 
deviated  from  all  authorities  known  to  have  been  acces- 
sible to  him.  "An  extraordinary  conversion  was  gener- 
ally thought  to  have  fallen  upon  the  Prince  on  coming  to 
the  crown — insomuch  that  the  old  chroniclers  could  only 
account  for  the  change  by  some  miracle  of  grace  or 
touch  of  supernatural  benediction."  Shakspere,  it  would 
seem,  engaged  now  upon  histprical  matter,  and  not  the 
fantastic  substance  of  a  comedy,  found  something  in- 
credible in  the  sudden  transformation  of  a  reckless  liber- 
tine (the  Henry  described  by  Caxton,  by  Fabyan,  and 
others)  into  a  character  of  majestic  force  and  large  prac- 
tical wisdom.     Rather  than   reproduce  this  incredible 

n 


Comrpents  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

popular  tradition  concerning  Henry,  Shakspere  pre- 
ferred to  attempt  the  difficult  task  of  exhibiting  the 
Prince  as  a  sharer  in  the  wild  frolic  of  3^outh,  while  at 
the  same  time  he  was  holding  himself  prepared  for  the 
splendid  entrance  upon  his  manhood,  and  stood  really 
aloof  in  his  inmost  being  from  the  unworthy  life  of  his 
associates. 

The  change  wdiich  effected  itself  in  the  Prince,  as  rep- 
resented by  Shakspere,  was  no  miraculous  conversion, 
but  merely  the  transition  from  boyhood  to  adult  years, 
and  from  unchartered  freedom  to  the  solemn  responsi- 
bilities of  a  great  ruler.  We  must  not  suppose  that 
Henry  formed  a  deliberate  plan  for  concealing  the 
strength  and  splendour  of  his  character,  in  order,  after- 
wards, to  flash  forth  upon  men's  sight  and  overwhelm 
and  dazzle  them.  When  he  soliloquizes  (I.  ii.  205  ct  seq.), 
having  bidden  farewell  to  Poins  and  Falstaif, 

"  I  know  you  all,  and  will  awhile  uphold 
The  unyoked  humour  of  your  idleness: 
Yet  herein  will  I  imitate  the  sun, 
Who  doth  permit  the  base  contagious  clouds 
To  smother  up  his  beauty  from  the  world, 
That,  when  he  please  again  to  be  himself, 
Being  wanted,  he  may  be  more  wonder'd  at. 
By  breaking  through  the  foul  and  ugly  mists 
Of  vapours  that  did  seem  to  strangle  him  " — 

when  Henry  soliloquizes  thus,  we  are  not  to  suppose  that 
he  was  quite  as  wise  and  diplomatical  as  he  pleased  to 
represent  himself,  for  the  time  being,  to  his  own  heart 
and  conscience.  The  Prince  entered  heartily  and  without 
reserve  into  the  fun  and  froHc  of  his  Eastcheap  life ; 
the  vigour  and  the  folly  of  it  were  delightful;  to  be 
clapped  on  the  back,  and  shouted  for  as  ''  Hal,"  was  far 
better  than  the  doffing  of  caps  and  crooking  of  knees, 
and  delicate,  unreal  phraseology  of  the  court.  But 
Henry,  at  the  same  time,  kept  himself  from  subjugation 
to  what  was  really  base.  He  could  truthfully  stand  be- 
fore his  father  (HI.  ii.)  and  maintain  that  his  nature  was 

12 


# 
KING  HENRY  IV.  Comments 

substantially  sound  and  untainted,  capable  of  redeeming 
itself  from  all  past,  superficial  dishonour. 

Has  Shakspere  erred?  Or  is  it  not  possible  to  take 
energetic  part  in  a  provisional  life,  which  is  known  to 
be  provisional,  while  at  the  same  time  a  man  holds  his 
truest  self  in  reserve  for  the  life  that  is  best  and  highest 
and  most  real?  May  not  the  very  consciousness,  indeed, 
that  such  a  life  is  provisional,  enable  one  to  give  one's 
self  away  to  it,  satisfying  its  demands  with  scrupulous 
care,  or  with  full  and  free  enjoyment,  as  a  man  could 
not  if  it  were  a  life  which  had  any  chance  of  engaging 
his  whole  personality,  and  that  finally?  Is  it  possible 
to  adjust  two  states  of  being,  one  temporary  and  pro- 
visional, the  other  absolute  and  final,  and  to  pass  freely 
out  of  one  into  the  other?  Precisely  because  the  one  is 
perfect  and  indestructible,  it  does  not  fear  the  counter- 
life.  May  there  not  have  been  passages  in  Shakspere's 
own  experience  which  authorized  him  in  his  attempt  to 
exhibit  the  successful  adjustment  of  two  apparently  in- 
coherent lives?  .  .  .  From  the  coldness,  the  cau- 
tion, the  convention,  of  his  father's  court  (an  atmos- 
phere which  suited  well  the  temperament  of  John  of 
Lancaster),  Henry  escapes  to  the  teeming  vitality  of  the 
London  streets,  and  the  tavern  where  FalstafY  is  mon- 
arch. There,  among  hostlers,  and  carriers,  and  drawers, 
and  merchants,  and  pilgrims,  and  loud  robustious 
wom.en,  he  at  least  has  freedom  and  froHc.  "  If  it  be  a 
sin  to  covet  honour,"  Henry  declares,  "  I  am  the  most 
offending  soul  alive."  But  the  honour  that  Henry 
covets  is  not  that  which  Hotspur  is  ambitious  after : — 

"  By  heaven,  methinks  it  were  an  easy  leap, 
To  pluck  bright  honour  from  the  pale-faced  moon." 

The  honour  that  Henry  covets  is  the  achievement  of 
great  deeds,  not  the  words  of  men  which  vibrate  around 
such  deeds.  Falstaff,  the  despiser  of  honour,  labours 
across  the  field,  bearing  the  body  of  the  fallen  Hotspur, 
the  impassioned  pursuer  of  glory,  and,  in  his  fashion  of 

13 


Comments  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

splendid  imposture  or  stupendous  joke,  the  fat  knight 
claims  credit  lOr  the  achievement  of  the  day's  victory. 
Henry  is  not  concerned,  on  this  occasion,  to  put  the  old 
sinner  to  shame.  To  have  added  to  the  deec?  of  the 
world  a  glorious  deed  is  itself  the  only  honour  that 
Henry  seeks. 

DowDEN :  Shakspere. 

III. 

Hotspur. 

It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  speak  of  Hotspur  satis- 
factorily; not  indeed  because  the  lines  of  his  character 
are  not  bold  and  prominent  enough,  but  rather  because 
they  are  so  much  so.  For  his  frame  is  greatly  dispro- 
portioned,  which  caiises  him  to  be  all  the  more  distin- 
guishable, and  perhaps  to  seem  larger  than  he  really  is; 
and  one  of  his  leading  excesses  manifests  itself  in  a  wiry, 
close-twisted,  red-hot  speech,  wdiich  burns  into  the  mind 
such  an  impression  of  him  as  must  needs  make  any  com- 
mentary seem  prosaic  and  dull.  There  is  no  mistaking 
him:  no  character  in  Shakespeare  stands  more  apart  in 
plenitude  of  peculiarity;  and  stupidity  itself  can  hardly 
so  disguise  or  disfeature  him  with  criticism,  but  that  he 
will  still  be  recognized  by  any  one  that  has  ever  seen  him. 
He  is  as  much  a  monarch  in  his  sphere  as  the  King  and 
Falstafif  are  in  theirs ;  only  they  rule  more  by  power,  he 
by  emphasis  and  stress:  there  is  something  in  them 
that  takes  away  the  will  and  spirit  of  resistance ;  he 
makes  everything  bend  to  his  arrogant,  domineering, 
capricious  temper.  Who  that  has  been  with  him  in  the 
scenes  at  the  palace  and  at  Bangor,  can  ever  forget  his 
bounding,  sarcastic,  overbearing  spirit?  How  he  hits 
all  about  him,  and  makes  the  feathers  fly  wherever  he 
hits!  It  seems  as  if  his  tongue  could  go  through  the 
world,  and  strew  the  road  behind  it  with  splinters.  And 
how  steeped  his  speech  everywhere  is  in  the  poetry  of 

14 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Comments 

the  sword!  In  what  compact  and  sinewy  platoons  and 
squadrons  the  words  march  out  of  his  mouth  in  bristhng 
rank  and  file!  as  if  from  his  birth  he  had  been  cradled 
on  the  iron  breast  of  war.  How  doubly  charged  he  is, 
in  short,  with  the  electricity  of  chivalry!  insomuch  that 
you  can  touch  him  nowhere  but  that  he  will  give  you  a 
shock. 

Another  consequence,  apparently,  of  Hotspur's  hav- 
ing so  much  of  passion  in  his  head,  is  the  singular  ab- 
sence of  mind  so  well  described  by  Prince  Henry,  and  so 
finely  exemplified  in  the  scene  with  his  wife ;  where,  after 
she  has  closed  her  noble  strain  of  womanly  eloquence,  he 
calls  in  a  servant,  makes  several  inquiries  about  his 
horse  and  orders  him  to  be  brought  into  the  park,  hears 
her  reproof,  exchanges  some  questions  with  her,  and 
fights  a  battle  in  imagination,  before  he  answers  her  ten- 
der remonstrance.  Here  it  is  plain  that  his  absence  is 
not  from  any  lack  of  strength,  but  from  a  certain  rapid- 
ity and  skittishness  of  mind :  he  has  not  the  control  of 
his  thinking;  the  issues  of  his  brain  being  so  conceived 
in  fire  as  to  preclude  steadiness  of  attention  and  the 
pauses  of  thought:  that  which  strikes  his  mind  last 
must  pop  out  first ;  and,  in  a  word,  he  is  rather  possessed 
by  his  thoughts,  than  possessing  them. 

The  qualities  we  have  remarked  must  needs  in  a  great 
measure  unfit  Hotspur  for  a  military  leader  in  regular 
warfare ;  the  whole  working  of  his  nature  being  too  im- 
pulsive and  heady  for  the  counterpoise  of  so  weighty  an 
undertaking.  Too  impetuous  and  eager  for  the  contest 
to  concert  operations,  too  impatient  for  the  end  to  await 
the  adjustment  of  means;  abundantly  able  to  fight  bat- 
tles, but  not  to  scheme  them;  he  is  qualified  to  succeed 
only  in  the  hurlyburly  of  border  warfare,  where  success 
comes  more  by  fury  of  onset  than  by  wisdom  of  plan. 
All  which  is  finely  shown  just  before  the  battle  of 
Shrewsbury,  where  if  he  be  not  perversely  wrong- 
headed,  he  is  so  headstrong,  peremptory,  and  confident 
even  to  rashness,  as  to  render  him  quite  impracticable: 

IS 


Comments  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

we  see,  and  his  fellow-chieftains  see,  that  there  is  no 
coming  to  a  temper  with  him;  that  he  will  be  sure  to  fall 
out  and  quarrel  with  whoever  stands  out  from  or  against 
his  purposes.  Yet  he  nowhere  appears  more  truly  the 
noble  Hotspur  than  on  this  occasion,  when  amidst  the 
falling  off  of  friends,  the  backwardness  of  allies,  and  the 
thickening  of  dangers,  his  ardent  and  brave  spirit  turns 
his  very  disadvantages  into  sources  of  confidence. 

Hudson  :  The  Works  of  Shakespeare. 

IV. 

Sir  John  Falstaff. 

He  [Falstaff]  is  a  man  at  once  young  and  old,  enter- 
prising and  fat.  a  dupe  and  a  wit,  harmless  and  wicked, 
weak  in  principle  and  resolute  by  constitution,  cowardly 
in  appearance  and  brave  in  reality,  a  knave  without 
malice,  a  liar  without  deceit,  and  a  knight,  a  gentleman, 
and  a  soldier  without  either  dignity,  decency,  or  honour. 
This  is  a  character  which,  though  it  may  be  decom- 
pounded, could  not,  I  believe,  have  been  formed,  nor  the 
ingredients  of  it  duly  mingled,  upon  any  receipt  what- 
ever. It  required  the  hand  of  Shakspeare  himself  to 
give  to  every  particular  part  a  relish  of  the  whole,  and 
of  the  whole  to  every  particular  part.  • 

Morgan N  :   The  Dramatic  Character  of  Sir  John  Falstaff. 


Falstaff  is  perhaps  the  most  substantial  comic  char- 
acter that  ever  was  invented.  Sir  John  carries  a  most 
portly  presence  in  the  mind's  eye;  and  in  him,  not  to 
speak  it  profanely,  *'  we  behold  the  fulness  of  the  spirit 
of  wit  and  humour  bodily."  We  are  as  well  acquainted 
with  his  person  as  his  mind,  and  his  jokes  come  upon 
us  with  double  force  and  relish  from  the  quantity  of 
flesh  through  which  they  make  their  way,  as  he  shakes 
his  fat  sides  with  laughter  or  *'  lards  the  lean  earth  as  he 

i6 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Comments 

walks  along."  Other  comic  characters  seem,  if  wc  ap- 
proach and  handle  them,  to  resolve  themselves  into  air, 
"  into  thin  air  "  ;  but  this  is  embodied  and  palpable  to 
the  grossest  apprehension:  it  lies  "three  fingers  deep 
upon  the  ribs,"  it  plays  about  the  lungs  and  diaphragm 
with  all  the  force  of  animal  enjoyment.  His  body  is  like 
a  good  estate  to  his  mind,  from  which  he  receives  rents 
and  revenues  of  profit  and  pleasure  in  kind,  according 
to  its  extent  and  the  richness  of  the  soil.  .  .  .  He  is 
represented  as  a  liar,  a  braggart,  a  coward,  a  glutton, 
etc.,  and  yet  we  are  not  offended,  but  delighted  with 
him ;  for  he  is  all  these  as  much  to  amuse  others  as  to 
gratify  himself.  He  openly  assumes  all  these  characters 
to  show  the  humorous  part  of  them.  The  unrestrained 
indulgence  of  his  own  ease,  appetites,  and  convenience 
has  neither  malice  nor  hypocrisy  in  it.  In  a  word,  he  is 
an  actor  in  himself  almost  as  much  as  upon  the  stage, 
and  we  no  more  object  to  the  character  of  Falstaff  in  a 
moral  point  of  view  than  we  should  think  of  bringing 
an  excellent  comedian,  who  should  represent  him  to  the 
life,  before  one  of  the  police  offices.  We  only  consider 
the  number  of  pleasant  fights  in  which  he  puts  certain 
foibles  (the  more  pleasant  as  they  are  opposed  to  the 
received  rules  and  necessary  restraints  of  society),  and 
do  not  trouble  ourselves  about  the  consequences  result- 
ing from,  them,  for  no  mischievous  consequences  do 
result.  Sir  John  is  old  as  well  as  fat,  which  gives  a 
melancholy  retrospective  tinge  to  his  character ;  and  by 
the  disparity  between  his  inclinations  and  his  capacity  for 
enjoymient,  makes  it  still  more  ludicrous  and  fantastical. 
Hazlitt  :  Characters  of  Shakespea/s  Plays. 


Nothing  can  be  less  like  the  mere  mouthpiece  of  an 
idea  or  the  representative  of  a  tendency  than  Falstaff, 
whose  incomparably  vivid  personality  is  rather,  notwith- 
standing his  childlike  innocence  of  mental  or  moral  con- 
flict, a  very  meeting-point  of  conflicting  traits.     But  we 

17 


Comments  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

can  hardly  be  wrong  in  regarding  as  the  decisive  trait 
which  justifies  the  extraordinary  role  he  plays  in  this 
drama,  his  wonderful  gift  of  non-moral  humour.  It  is  his 
chief  occupation  to  cover  with  immortal  ridicule  the 
ideals  of  heroic  manhood — the  inward  honour  which  the 
Prince  maintains,  a  little  damaged,  in  his  company,  as 
well  as  the  outward  honour  which  Hotspur  would  fain 
pluck  from  the  pale-faced  moon.  His  reputation  is  a 
bubble  which  he  delights  to  blow  for  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  it  burst.  He  comes  of  a  good  stock,  has  been 
page  to  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  and  exchanged  jests  with 
John  of  Gaunt.  But  like  the  Prince,  and  like  Hotspur, 
he  is  a  rebel  to  the  traditions  of  his  order;  and  he  is  the 
greatest  rebel  of  the  three.  Shakespeare's  contempo- 
raries, however,  and  the  whole  seventeenth  century,  con- 
ceived his  revolt  as  yet  more  radical  than  it  was,  taking 
him,  as  the  Prince  does,  for  a  genuine  coward  endowed 
with  an  inimitable  faculty  of  putting  a  good  face  on 
damaging  facts.  Since  the  famous  essay  of  Maurice 
Morgann  criticism  has  inclined  even  excessively  to  the 
opposite  extreme,  conceiving  him  as  from  first  to  last 
a  genial  artist  in  humour,  who  plays  the  coward  for  the 
sake  of  the  monstrous  caricature  of  valour  that  he  will 
make  in  rebutting  the  charge.  The  admirable  battle- 
scene  at  Shrewsbury  is  thus  the  very  kernel  of  the  play. 
It  is  altogether  a  marvellous  example  of  epic  material 
penetrated  through  and  through  with  dramatic  inven- 
tion; and  Shakespeare's  boldest  innovations  in  the  po- 
litical story  are  here  concentrated.  Here  the  Prince  re- 
veals his  noble  quality  as  at  once  a  great  warrior,  a  loyal 
son,  and  a  generous  foe — in  the  duel  with  liotspur,  the 
rescue  of  his  father,  and  the  ransomless  release  of  Doug- 
las ; — all  incidents  unknown  to  the  Chronicles.  Here 
Hotspur  falls  a  victim  to  his  infatuated  disdain  of  the 
rival  whose  valour  had  grown  "  like  the  summer  grass, 
fastest  by  night."  And  here  Falstafif,  the  mocker  at 
honour,  Hes  motionless  side  by  side  with  its  extravagant 
devotee — not  like  him  dead,  but  presently  to  conjure  up 

i8 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Comments 

the  wonderful  phantom  of  the  fight  for  a  good  hour  by 
Shrewsbury  clock. 

Herford  :   The  Ever  si  ey  Sha'kespeare. 


Shakespeare  created  a  kind  of  English  Bacchus  at  a 
time  when  every  kind  of  fruit  or  grain  that  could  be 
made  into  a  beverage  was  drunk  in  vast  quantities;  and 
sack,  which  was  FalstafY's  native  element,  was  both 
strong  and  sweet.  Falstafif  is  saved  by  his  humour  and 
his  genius;  he  lies,  steals,  boasts,  and  takes  to  his  legs 
in  time  of  peril,  with  such  superb  consistency  and  m 
such  unfailing  good  spirits  that  we  are  captivated  by  his 
vitality.  It  would  be  as  absurd  to  apply  ethical  standards 
to  him  as  to  Silenus  or  Bacchus;  he  is  a  creature  of  the 
elemental  forces;  a  personification  of  the  vitality  which 
is  in  bread  and  wine;  a  satyr  become  human,  but  mov- 
ing buoyantly  and  joyfully  in  an  unmoral  world.  And 
yet  the  touch  of  the  ethical  law  is  on  him;  he  is  not  a 
corrupter  by  intention,  and  he  is  without  malice ;  but  as 
old  age  brings  its  searching  revelation  of  essential  char- 
acteristics, his  humour  broadens  into  coarseness,  his 
buoyant  animalism  degenerates  into  lust;  and  he  is 
saved  from  contempt  at  the  end  by  one  of  those  ex- 
quisite touches  with  which  the  great-hearted  Poet  loves 
to  soften  and  humanize  degeneration. 
Mabie  :  William  Shakespeare  :  Poet,  Dramatist,  and  Man. 


Falstaff  s  Wit. 

He  is  one  of  the  brightest  and  wittiest  spirits  England 
has  ever  produced.  He  is  one  of  the  most  glorious  crea- 
tions that  ever  sprang  from  a  poet's  brain.  There  is 
much  rascality  and  much  genius  in  him,  but  there  is  no 
trace  of  mediocrity.  He  is  always  superior  to  his  sur- 
roundings, always  resourceful,  always  witty,  always  at 

19 


Comments  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

his  ease,  often  put  to  shame,  but,  thanks  to  his  inventive 
effrontery,  never  put  out  of  countenance.  He  has  fallen 
below  his  social  position;  he  lives  in  the  worst  (though 
also  in  the  best)  society;  he  has  neither  soul,  nor  honour, 
nor  moral  sense;  but  he  sins,  robs,  lies,  and  boasts,  with 
such  splendid  exuberance,  and  is  so  far  above  any 
serious  attempt  at  hypocrisy,  that  he  seems  unfailingly 
amiable  whatever  he  may  choose  to  do.  Therefore  he 
charms  every  one,  although  he  is  a  butt  for  the  wit  of  all. 
He  perpetually  surprises  us  by  the  wealth  of  his 
nature.     .     .     . 

Here,  in  the  First  Part,  Falstaff  is  still  a  demi-god, 
supreme  alike  in  intellect  and  in  wit.  With  this  figure 
the  popular  drama  which  Shakespeare  represented  won 
its  first  decisive  battle  over  the  Hterary  drama  which  fol- 
lowed in  the  footsteps  of  Seneca.  We  can  actually  hear 
the  laughter  of  the  "  yard  "  and  the  gallery  surging 
around  his  speeches  like  waves  around  a  boat  at  sea. 
It  was  the  old  sketch  of  Parolles  in  Love's  Labour  's  IVon, 
which  had  here  taken  on  a  new  amplitude  of  flesh  and 
blood.  There  was  much  to  delight  the  groundlings — 
Falstaff  is  so  fat  and  yet  so  mercurial,  so  old  and  yet  so 
youthful  in  all  his  tastes  and  vices.  But  there  was  far 
more  to  delight  the  spectators  of  higher  culture,  in  his 
marvellous  quickness  of  fence,  which  can  parry  every 
thrust,  and  in  the  readiness  which  never  leaves  him 
tongue-tied,  or  allows  him  to  confess  himself  beaten. 
Yes,  there  was  something  for  every  class  of  spectators 
in  this  mountain  of  flesh,  exuding  wit  at  every  pore,  in 
this  hero  without  shame  or  conscience,  in  this  robber, 
poltroon,  and  liar,  whose  mendacity  is  quite  poetic,  Miin- 
chausenesque,  in  this  cynic  with  the  brazen  forehead 
and  a  tongue  as  supple  as  a  Toledo  blade.  His  talk  is 
like  Bellman's  after  him: — 

"  A  dance  of  all  the  gods  upon  Olympus, 
With  fauns  and  graces  and  the  muses  twined," 

The  men  of  the  Renaissance  revelled  in  his  wit,  much  as 

20 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Comments 

the  men  of  the  Middle  Ages  had  enjoyed  the  popular 
leg-ends  of  Reinecke  Fuchs  and  his  rogueries. 

Falstaff  reaches  his  highest  point  of  wit  and  drollery 
in  that  typical  soliloquy  on  honour,  in  which  he  indulges 
on  the  battle-field  of  Shrewsbury  (V.  i.),  a  soHloquy 
which  almost  categorically  sums  him  up,  in  contradis- 
tinction to  the  other  leading  personages.  For  all  the 
characters  here  stand  in  a  certain  relation  to  the  idea  of 
honour — the  King,  to  whom  honour  means  dignity; 
Hotspur,  to  whom  it  means  the  halo  of  renown;  the 
Prince,  who  loves  it  as  the  opposite  of  outward  show; 
and  Falstaff,  who,  in  his  passionate  appetite  for  the  ma- 
terial good  things  of  life,  rises  entirely  superior  to  it  and 
shows  its  nothingness. 

Brandes  :  William  Shakespeare. 

vv 

Owen  Glendower. 

Owen  Glendower — the  "  damned  Glendower  "  of  the 
King — the  "  great  Glendower  "  of  Hotspur — "  he  of 
Wales,"  that  ''  swore  the  devil  his  true  Hege-man,"  of 
the  Prince,  was  among  the  most  bold  and  enterprising  of 
the  warriors  of  his  age.  The  immediate  cause  of  his 
outbreak  against  the  power  of  Henry  IV.  was  a  quarrel 
with  Lord  Grey  of  Ruthyn,  on  the  occasion  of  which  the 
parliament  of  Henry  seems  to  have  treated  Owen  with 
injustice;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  great  ob- 
ject of  his  ambition  was  to  restore  the  independence  of 
Wales.  In  the  guerilla  warfare  which  he  waged  against 
Henry,  he  was  eminently  successful;  and  his  boast  in 
this  drama  is  historically  true,  that — 

* "  Three  limes  hath  Henry  Bolingbroke  made  head 
Against  my  power :  thrice  from  the  banks  of  Wye, 
And  sandy-bottom'd  Severn,  have  I  sent  him, 
Bootless  home,  and  weather-beaten  back." 

21 


Comments  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Shakspere  has  seized,  with  wonderful  exactness,  upon 
all  the  features  of  his  history  and  character,  and  of  the 
popular  superstitions  connected  with  him.  They  all  be- 
longed to  the  region  of  poetry.     Glendower  says : — 

"  at  my  birth. 
The  front  of  heaven  was  full  of  fiery  shapes." 

The  old  chroniclers  say,  "  the  same  night  he  was  born 
all  his  father's  horses  were  found  to  stand  in  blood  up  to 
their  bellies."  His  pretensions  as  a  magician,  which 
Shakspere  has  most  beautifully  connected  with  his  en- 
thusiastic and  poetical  temperament,  made  him  a  greater 
object  of  fear  than  even  his  undoubted  skill  and  valour. 
When  the  king  pursued  him  into  his  mountains,  Owen 
(as  Holinshed  relates)  "  conveyed  himself  out  of  the  way 
into  his  known  lurking-places,  and,  as  was  thought, 
through  art  magic  he  caused  such  foul  weather  of  winds, 
tempest,  rain,  snow,  and  hail  to  be  raised  for  the  annoy- 
ance of  the  king's  army  that  the  like  had  not  been  heard 
of."    His  tedious  stories  to  Hotspur —  * 

"  of  the  moldwarp  and  the  ant, 
Of  the  dreamer  Merlin  and  his  prophecies; 
And  of  a  dragon,  and  a  finless  fish, 
A  clip-wing'd  griffin,  and  a  moulten  raven, 
A  couching  lion,  and  a  ramping  cat" — 

were  old  Welsh  prophecies  which  the  people  in  general, 
and  very  likely  Glendower  himself,  devoutly  believed. 
According  to  Holinshed,  it  was  upon  the  faith  of  one  of 
these  prophecies  in  particular  that  the  tripartite  inden- 
ture of  Mortimer,  Hotspur,  and  Glendower  was  exe- 
cuted. "  This  was  done  (as  some  have  said)  through  a 
foolish  credit  given  to  a  vain  prophecy,  as  though  King 
Henry  was  the  moldwarp,  cursed  of  God's  own  mouth, 
and  they  three  were  the  dragon,  the  lion,  and  the. wolf, 
which  should  divide  this  realm  between  them."  Glen- 
dower might  probably  have 

"  Believ'd  the  magic  wonders  which  he  sang," 
22, 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Comments 

but  he  was  no  vulgar  enthusiast.  He  was  "  trained  up  in 
the  EngHsh  court,"  as  he  describes  himself,  and  he  was 
probably  "  exceedingly  well  read,"  as  Mortimer  describes 
him,  for  he  had  been  a  barrister  of  the  Middle  Temple. 
When  the  ParHament,  who  rudely  dismissed  his  petition 
against  Lord  Grey  of  Ruthyn,  refused  to  listen  to  "  bare- 
footed blackguards,"  it  can  scarcely  be  wondered  that 
he  should  raise  the  standard  of  rebellion.  The  Welsh 
from  all  parts  of  England,  even  the  students  of  Oxford, 
crowded  home  to  fight  under  the  banners  of  an  inde- 
pendent Prince  of  Wales.  Had  Glendower  joined  the 
Percies  before  the  battle  of  Shrewsbury,  which  he  was 
most  probably  unable  to  do,  he  might  for  a  time  have 
ruled  a  kingdom,  instead  of  perishing  in  wretchedness 
and  obscurity,  after  years  of  unavailing  contest. 

Knight:  Pictorial  Shaksperc, 

VII. 

Douglas. 

Douglas  is  a  creation  that  adds  wonderful  force  to  the 
scene,  and  aids  in  giving  dignity  and  relief  both  to  the 
King  and  to  Hotspur.  There  is  somewhat  barbarous 
and  uncivilized  m  his  traits  that  speaks  of  a  nation  re- 
moter from  refinement  than  Northumberland.  He  as- 
serts and  dwells  upon  his  own  boldness  with  as  little 
delicacy  as  he  imputes  fear  and  cold  heart  to  Worcester, 
and  is  more  petulant  and  inconsiderate  in  urging  on  the 
battle  prematurely  than  Hotspur  himself.  Brave  and 
most  efficient  he  is  as  a  soldier  even  to  excite  the  enthu- 
siastic admiration  of  his  ally,  but  when  he  finds  himself 
overmatched  he  runs  away  without  hesitation,  though 
it  be  to  look  for  an  opponent  he  can  better  cope  with, 
and  m  the  rout  he  is  captured  by  most  undignified  catas- 
trophe: "  upon  the  foot  of  fear,  fled  with  the  rest,"  the 
hero  who  professed  that  the  word  fear  was  unknown  in 
Scotland : — 

23 


Comments  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

"And  falling  from  a  hill  he  was  so  bruised — 
That  the  pursuers  took  him." 

This  accident  is  historical,  like  his  military  renown,  and 
in  the  seeming  incongruity  Shakespeare  found'  the  key 
of  the  character.  The  Douglas  of  this  play  always  re- 
minds me  of  the  Ares  of  the  Iliad — a  coarse  exponent  of 
the  mere  animal  propensity  to  pugnacity,  delighting  in 
the  circumstances  of  homicide,  but  when  pierced  by  the 
spear  of  Diomed,  hastily  flying  from  the  conflict  and 
bellowing  aloud. 

Lloyd  :  Critical  Essays  on  the  Plays  of  Shakespeare. 

VIII. 

King  Henry. 

Of  all  the  strictly  historical  personages  of  this  first 
part,  Henry  the  Fourth  himself  alone  seems  drawn  en- 
tirely and  scrupulously  from  historical  authority;  and 
his  is  a  portrait  rivalling,  in  truth  and  discrimination, 
the  happiest  delineations  of  Plutarch  or  of  Tacitus.  He 
is  contrasted  alike  to  the  frailties  and  to  the  virtues  of  his 
son;  his  talent,  and  the  dignity  with  which  it  invests  his 
cold  and  crafty  poHcy,  the  absence  of  all  nobler  senti- 
ment from  the  sagacious  worldly  wisdom  of  his  counsels 
and  opinions,  his  gloom,  melancholy,  and  anxiety — all 
combine  to  form  a  portrait  of  a  great  and  unhappy 
statesman,  as  true  and  as  characteristic,  though  not  as 
dark,  as  Tacitus  has  left  us  of  Tiberius. 

Verplanck:  The  Illustrated  Shakespeare. 

IX. 

The  Vassalry. 

Shakspeare,  in  his  usual  masterly  style,  describes  the 
vassalry  i'l  its  chief  representatives:  the  noble,  hot- 
blooded,  ambitious,  and  foolhardy  Percy,  who  is  ever 

24 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Comments 

balancing  the  world  on  the  point  of  his  sword,  who  has 
pleasure  only  in  war  and  military  glory,  and  would  stake 
the  welfare  of  his  country  for  the  sake  of  a  single  heroic 
deed;  the  brave,  noble-hearted  Douglas,  who  is  as  ready 
to  acknowledge  Percy's  superior  military  power,  as  to 
bid  defiance  to  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  who,  out  of  pure 
chivalrous  gratitude,  joins  his  victorious  enemy  in  a 
dangerous  and  unpromising  enterprise,  although  he  is 
not  urged  on  by  any  personal  interest;  the  cold,  calcu- 
lating, intriguing,  and  ambitious  Worcester,  who  is  more 
a  statesman  than  a  knight,  and  again  but  half  a  states- 
man and  half  a  knight;  the  irresolute  Northumberland, 
who  never  knows  whether  he  shall  uphold  his  princely 
dignity,  his  great  estates  and  the  welfare  of  his  house,  or, 
like  a  knight  errant,  stake  his  all  upon  a  single  throw ; 
lastly, the  double-tongued  Archbishop  of  York,  who  is  half 
an  ecclesiastical  prince,  and  half  a  vassal,  who  preaches 
peace  sword  in  hand,  and  would  like  to  wed  the  worldli- 
ness  of  his  desires  to  the  holiness  of  his  office; — all  these 
are  true  Shakspearian  characters,  full,  complete  men,  and 
yet,  at  the  same  time,  but  children  of  their  age.  In  them 
we  have  a  distinct  reflex  of  the  essential  elements  of  vas- 
salry.  A  state  of  semi-independence  together  with  a 
state  of  semi-dependence;  a  defiance  and  arrogance,  an 
ambition  and  love  of  dominion  which,  however,  are  ever 
at  strife  with  a  feeling  of  duty  towards  the  kingdom  and 
the  King;  the  endeavour  to  make  themselves  strong  by 
alliances,  whereas,  according  to  the  nature  of  things, 
there  is  no  truly  uniting  bond  among  them,  and  all  are 
finally  left  to  do  as  they  please  in  spite  of  oaths  and 
treaties;  the  contradiction  in  the  knight  whose  sole  ob-* 
ject  is  personal  honour  and  military  glory,  and  the  same 
knight  who  ought  likewise  to  be  a  commander  and  a 
chief,  governing  country  and  people,  a  statesman  and  a 
politician; — all  these  characteristic  features  are  set  forth 
in  delicate  but  definite  outlines. 

Ulrici  :  Shakspeare's  Dramatic  Art, 


25 


Comments  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

X. 

Brilliancy  and  Power  of  Henry  IV. 

With  all  sorts  of  readers  and  spectators  this  is  the 
greatest  favourite  of  the  whole  of  Shakespeare's  English 
histories,  and,  indeed,  is  perhaps  the  most  popular  of  all 
dramatic  compositions  in  the  language.  The  popularity 
of  this  play  has  extended  itself  to  the  other  histories  with 
which  it  is  connected,  until  it  has  made  them  all  nearly 
as  familiarly  known  as  itself.  It  is  probably  owing  quite 
as  much  to  Falstaff  and  to  Hotspur  as  to  the  several 
nerits  of  the  other  histories — great  as  they  are,  though 
in  very  different  degrees — that  this  whole  dramatic 
series  of  histories  have  been  mixed  up  with  ail  our  recol- 
lections and  impressions  of  the  Wars  of  York  and  Lan- 
caster, and  finally  become  substituted  in  the  popular 
mind  for  all  other  history  of  the  period.  Thus  it  is  to 
this  play  that  the  great  majority  of  those  at  all  familiar 
with  old  English  history  in  its  substantial  reality,  not  as 
a  meagre  chronological  abridgment  of  names  and  events, 
but  exhibiting  the  men  and  deeds  of  the  times,  are  in- 
debted generally  for  their  earliest  and  always  their  most 
vivid,  impressive,  and  true  conceptions  of  England'^: 
feudal  ages.  Of  the  ten  plays  of  this  historic  series,  the 
first  part  of  Henry  IV.  is  the  most  brilliant  and  various, 
and,  therefore,  the  most  attractive;  while  it  is  substan- 
tially as  true  as  any  of  the  rest  in  its  historical  instruc- 
tion— although  it  is  neither  a  dramatized  chronicle  in  the 
old  fashion,  nor  yet  a  strictly  historical  drama  in  the 
sense  in  which  Richard  II.  and  Julius  Cccsar  are  pre- 
eminently entitled  to  that  appellation — as  presenting 
only  historical  personages  and  great  public  events  with 
the  condensed  effect  and  sustained  feeling  of  dramatic 
unity  and  interest. 

Verplanck  :  The  Illustrated  Shakespeare. 
26 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Comments 

In  Henry  IV.,  we  return  to  our  own  England — 

This  blessed  plot,  this  earth,  this  realm,  this  England, 
This  nurse,  this  teeming  womb  of  royal  kings, 
Fear'd  by  their  breed  and  famous  for  their  birth. 

^Richard  II.,  II.  i.) 

We  come  from  the  grace  and  beauty  and  wit  of  Portia, 
the  curses  and  baffled  vengeance  of  Shylock,  the  tender 
friendship  of  Antonio  and  Bassanio,  and  the  rivalry  of 
the  courters  of  the  sweet  Bianca,  the  taming  of  Kather- 
ine  the  curst,  to  the  headstrong  valour  of  Hotspur,  the 
wonderful  wit  of  Falstaff,  the  vanquished  rebels  who 
wound  England  with  their  horses'  hoofs,  the  noble  rival- 
ry of  Henry  Percy  and  Henry  Prince  of  Wales — 

Hotspur.  O,  would  the  quarrel  lay  upon  our  heads ; 

And  that  no  man  might  draw  short  breath  to-day, 
But  I  and  Harry  Monmouth — 

and  the  sight  of  how  "  ever  did  rebellion  find  rebuke." 
Love  gives  place  to  war;  kingdoms  are  striven  for,  not 
fair  girls'  hands;  rebels,  not  shrews,  are  tamed.  Let  us 
look  for  a  moment  at  the  change  from  Shakspere's  early 
historical  plays.  It  is  one  from  spring  to  summer.  Like 
Chaucer,  he  has  been,  as  it  were,  to  Dante's  land,  to 
Petrarch's,  Boccaccio's  home ;  and  when  he  touches  his 
native  soil  again,  he  springs  from  youth  to  manhood, 
from  his  First  Period  to  his  Second,  from  the  cramp  of 
rhyme,  the  faint  characterization  of  Richard  11. ,  to  the 
freedom,  the  reckless  ease,  the  full  creative  power  of 
Henry  IV.  Granting  that  the  rhetoric  of  the  earlier  play 
rioes  still  appear  in  Vernon's  speech,  etc.,  yet  all  its  faint 
.nnd  shadowy  secondary  figures  have  vanished.  Through 
every  scene  of  i  Henry  IV.  beats  the  full,  strong  pulse  of 
vigorous  manhood  and  life. 

Furnivall:  The  Leopold  Shakspere. 


27 


DRAMATIS   PERSONAE. 

King  Henry  the  Fourth. 

Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,    ) 

•f  r   r  .  y  sons  to  the  Kin^. 

John  of  Lancaster,  )  ^ 

Earl  of  Westmoreland. 

Sir  Walter  Blunt. 

Thomas  Fercy,  Earl  of  Worcester.   ' ' 

Henry  Percy,  Earl  of  Northumberland. 

Henry  Percy,  surnamed  Hotspur,  his  son. 

Edmund  Mortimer,  Earl  of  March. 

Richard  Scroop,  Archbishop  of  York. 

Archibald,  Earl  of  Douglas. 

Owen  Glendower. 

Sir  Richard  Vernon. 

Sir  John  Falstaff. 

Sir  Michael,  a  friend  to  the  Archbishop  of  York. 

Poins. 

Gads  HILL. 

Peto. 

Bardolph. 

Lady  Percy,  wife  to  Hotspur,  and  sister  to  Mortimer. 

Lady  Mortimer,  daughter  to  Glendower,  and  zvife  to  Mr.-- 

timer. 
Mistress  Quickly,  hostess  of  a  tavern  in  Eastcheap. 

Lords,    Officers,    Sheriff,    Vintner,    Chamberlain,    Drawers,    two 
Carriers,  Travellers,  and  Attendants. 

Scene  :  England. 


28 


^^       The  First  Part  of 

KING   HENRY  IV. 

ACT  FIRST.  ^^^^^,^ 

ijUm<fvfUf<y^A^iJUjuL        ,.    Scene  I.     Ae/^C£a^-^  f//^^     i) 

£;i^^r  i^fw^  H^nr^f,  Lord  /o/i;i  of  Lancaster,  the  Earl  of.  ^ 

Westmoreland,  Sir  Walter  Blunt,  and  others.  dJ^ 


King.  So  shaken  as  we  are,  so  wan  with  care 


tMfC'**^ 


Find  we  a  time  for  frighted  peace  to  pant^  W  ^(V* 
And  breathe  short-windedaccents  of  new  broils  JU^*-^ 
To  be  commenced  in  s^n^afar  remote. 
No  more  the  thirsty _e^!^fe^f  this  soil 
Shall  daub  her  lips^with^h.er  own  children's  blood; 
No  more  shall "brencfiSing^ar  channel  her  fields, 
Nor  bruise  her  flowerets  with  the  ^rmed  hoofs 
Of  hostile  paces:   those  ^^0^^^^^'' 
Which,  like  the  meteors  of  a  troubled  heaven,         lo 
All  of  one  nature,  of  on?  si^stance  bred, 
Did  lately  meet  in  the  jffl^n^^^gck  ^  Heun^ 

^^^^>^r^.    And  furiou^dose^of  civil  bgtcliej^^^^  tucuyuJo^ 
.ouLcllU)    ^hall  now,  in  niutual  ^'ell-Ceseemir>g  mf^     iCjC£<£J-f^ 
coA^^/^'^March  all  one  way,  and  be  no  more  opposed 
Q      Against  acquaintance,  kindred  and  allies: 
The  edge  of  war,  like  an  ill-sheathed  knife. 
No  more  shall  cut  his  master.     Therefore,  friends. 
As  far  as  to  the  sepulchre  of  Christ, 
Whose  soldier  now,  under  whose  blessed  cross      20 

29 


Act  I.  Sc.  i.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

We  arejnipressed  ami  engagea  to  fight, 
Forthwith  a  p^£j'6  lEngl  i  s  h  shall  we  levy; 
Whose  arms  were  moulded  in  their  mother's  womb 
To  chase  these  pagans  in  those  holy  fields 
Over  whose  acres  walk'd  those  blessed  feet. 
Which  fourteen  hundred  years  ago  were  nail'd 
For  our  advantage  on  the  bitter  cross. 
But  this  oAirpurpose  now  is  twelve  month  old, 

ess  'tis  to  tell  you  we  will  go: 
_ereTor'e^we%ieet  not  now.     Then  let  me  hear  30 
^jUfdodi*^^^  Of  you,  my  gentle  cousin  Westmoreland, 

What  vesternight  our  council  did  decree /o        "     r\ 
In  forwarding  this  ^ff^^^^-^  ST^^^erP 
Wesi.  My  liege,  this  haste  was  horai'^^:f^£^in, 


And  many  limits  of  the 
But  yesternio-ht :    when  all 


e  came/  / 


A  post  Tr^TiWales  loaden  with  heavy  news; 
Whose  worst  was,  that  the  noble  Mortimer, 
Leading  the  men  of  Herefordshire  to  fight 
Against  tlieJn^lTfer  and  wild  Glendower,  40 

Was  by  the  rude  hands  of  that  Welshman  taken, 
A  thousand  of  his  people  butchered;  •  n^      fJki ^  1 

Upon  whose  dead  corpse  there  was  such  misuse, 
Such  beastly  shameless  ^x^M^^^^^^^'-^^'^'-''^''-^^ 
By  those  Welshwomen  done,  as  may  not  be 
Without  much  shame  retold  or  spoken  of. 

King.  It  seems  then  that  the  tidings  of  this  broil 
Brake  ofif  our  business  for  the  Holy  Land. 

Wcsi.  This  match'cLw'ith  other,  did,  my  gracious  lord: 
For  more  '^^Wn^^ana'^imyelcome  news  50 

Came  from  the  north  and  thus  it  did  import: 
On  Holy-rood  day,  the  gallant  Hotspur  there. 


KING  HENRY  IV.  ApI  I.  Sc.  i. 

Young  Harry  Percy,  and  brave  Archibald, 
That  ever-vaHant  and  approved  Scot, 
At  Holmedon  met. 

Where  they  did  spend  a  sad  and  bloody  hour; 
As  by  ^scW^e^of  their  artillery, 
And  sh^^^miikemiood.  the  news  was  told; 
As  he  that  brought  them,  in  the  very  heat 
And  pride  of  their  conterd^n  did  take  horse,         60 
Uncertain  of  the  issue  anywayf/ 
King.  Here  is  a  dear,  a  true  industrious  friend, 
Sjr  Walter  Blunt,  ne\ririghted  from  his  harse, 
^'^Eamd  with  the  variation  of  each  soil 

'Betwixt  that  Holmedon  and  this  seat  of  ours; 
And  he  hath  brought  us  smooth  and  welcome  news. 
The  Earl  of  Douglas  is  discomfited: 


Ten  ^ousand  bold  Scots,  two  and  twenty  knights,      ^^g  • 
^T^d^^their  own  blood  did  Sir  Walter  see  .      ^^k 

On  Holmedon's  plainsXOf  prisoners.  Hotspur  took  UuhAo* 
Mordake  the  Earl  of  Fife,  and  eldest  son      ^<xx^^<J^iYj 
To  beaten  Douglas]  and  the  Earl  of  Athol,  Aj^ju  Vi^'fesL.SL 
Of  Murray,  Angus,  and  Menteith:  *^^JS^5^UJJ:s>a- ^ 

And  is  not  this  an  honourable  spoil?      /nS\  r\        V(\S^  ^ 
A  gallant  prize?>  ha.  cousin,  is  it  not?      ^^^^«^^  ^ 

West.  In  faith,  ^McKjL^auk, 

It  is  a  conquest  for  a  prince  to  boast  of. 
i^^  King.  Yea,  there  thou  makest  me  sad  and  makest  me  sin 
I        In  envy  that  my  Lord  Northumberland 
^       Should  be  the  father  to  so  blest  a  son,  80 

A  son  who  is  the  theme  of  honour's  tongue; 
Amongst  a  grove,  the  ver^^  str^htest  plant; 
'       Who  is  sweet  Fortune's^nii^^ion  and  her  pride: 
*       Whilst  I,  by  looking  on  the  praise  of  him, 

31 


Act  t.  Sc.  ii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

See  riot  and  dishonour  stain  the  brow 

Of  my  young  Harry.     O  that  it  could  be  proved 

That  some  night-tripping  fairy  had  exchanged 

In  cradle-clothes  our  children  where  they  lay, 

And  caird  mine  Percy,  his  Plantagenet! 

Then  would  I  have  his  Harry,  and  he  mine.  90 

But  let^him^rom  my  thoughts.     What  think  you, 

coz. 
Of  this  young  Percy's  pride?  the  prisoners, 
Which  he  in  this  adventure  hath  surprised, 
To  his  own  use  he  keeps ;  and  sends  me  word, 
I  shall  have  none  but  Mordake  Earl  of  Fife.       (j)        -j 
^jL^e-^ .       West.  ThisisJiis  uncle's  teaching:   this  is  Worcester,  ^^^^77? 
U^^Miba^ ^  Ma^^vo't^lio  you  iQ.aU  aspects ;  ^  J^oJL 

^^^  ^  Which  makes  him  ^mne*  himself,  and  bristle  up 

The  crest  of  youth  against  your  dignity.  . 
King.  But  I  have  sent  for  him  to  answer  this;  100 

And  for  this  cause  awhile  we  must  neglect 
''    ^'  ■'  Our  holy  purpose  to  Jerusalem. 

I  Cousin,  on  Wednesday  next  our  council  we 
1'  Will  hold  at  Windsor;    so  inform  the  lords: 
But  come  yourself  with  speed  to  us  again; 
For  more  is  to  be  said  and  to  be  done 
Than  out  of  anger  can  be  utter^. 
West.  I  will,  my  liege.  [Exeunt. 


London.     An  apartment  of /the  Prince  s. 
Enter  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  Falstaif. 


Uj-off- 


Fal.  Now,  Hal,  what  time  pfo^^v  is  it, 
Prince.  Thou   art   so   @^i fcenr/w nfr ''^i n k i n g   of   old 
sack  and  unbuttoning  thee   after   supper  and 


UrtMi^ 


'  KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  I.  Sc.  ii. 

sleeping  upon  benches  after  noon,  that  thou 
hast  forgotten  to  demand  that  truly  which  thou 
wouldst  truly  know.  What  a  devil  hast  thou  to 
do  with  the  time  of  the  day?    Unless  hours  were 

.  cups  of  sack,  and  minutes  capons,  and  clocks 
the)  tOQ>p.iQ6  of  bawds,  and  dials  the  signs  of 
leapmgnoul'es,  and  the  blessed  sun  himself  a  lo 
fair  hot  wench  in  flame-coloured  taffeta,  I  see 
no  reason  why  thou  shouldst  be  so  superfluous 
to  demand  the  time  of  the  day. 

Fal.  Indeed,  you  com^^ear  me  now,  Hal ;  foiv^wj ,  n 
that  take  purses  go  by  the  moon  and  the  seX^(*^*^^^ 
stars,  and  not  by  Phoebus,  he  '  that  wandering 
knight  so  fair/  And,  I  prithee,  sweet  wag, 
when  thou  art  king,  as,  God  jaye  ihv  erace 
— majesty  I  should  say,  for  graSthou^wilt 
have  none, —  20 

Prince.  What,  none? 

Fal.  No,  by  my  t|-g|h,  not  so  rnuch  as  will  serve  to 
(^^  ^.       be  F^^e  t^l^  Mkt^^  d...:^^^ 


Fai 


Marry,  then,,  sweet  wag^  when  Ihou  art  kin^      .    y: 
et  not  us  that  are  squires  ofme  mgftrs  Dodv      /7^ 


^   < 


be  called  thieves  of  the  day's  beauty:    let    us     ^C^j^^^in^ 
Q(ytjLja        he  Diana's  foresters,    gentlemen  of  the  shade,      ^>«s^crju  " 

^^   '     men  of  go^ ^g^vmtrrient,  being  governed,  as  j  30 
the  sea  is,  bv  our  noble  and  chaste  mistress  the 
moon,  under  whose  countenance  we  steal. 
Prince.  Thou  sayest  well,  and  it  holds    well    too; 
for  the  fortune  of  us  that  are  the  moon's  men 
doth  ebb  and  flow  like  the  sea,  being  governed,    '  -J 


Act  I.  Sc.  ii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

^uLiCut^-^ciU^  as  the  sea  is,  by  the  moon.    As,  for  proof,  now: 
^^-^  a  purse  of  gold  most  resolutely  snatched    on 

'fjxwtxjjrtct^M^  Monday  night  and  most  dissolutely    spent    on^ 
ik^^  Tuesday  morning;  got  with  swearing  '  Lay  by  ^ 

JtiuCo^  and  spent  with  crying    'Bring  in  ';  now  in  as     40 

/u/»*t6S»^^'^)  low  an  ebb  as  the  foot  of  the  ladder,  and  by  and . 
by  in  as  high  a  flow  as  the  ridge  of  the  gallows. 
♦   Val.  By  the  Lord,  thou  savest  true,  lad.    And  is  not 
^  my  hostess  of  the  tavern  a  most  sweet  wench? 
Prince.  As  the  honey  of  livbl.a,  my  old  lad  of  the 
C3^tle.     And  is  not  a, bui¥  jerferraT  mQsf^^^we^t 
^  robe  of  durance  ?^^,^^^^^^1^^^'1^S^  • 

Fal.  How  now,  how  npw,  mad  wag!    what,  in  thy 
^^^^^■''^^^m^^and  th v^^moineC^  wnat  a  plague  have  I 

to  do  with  a  bufif  jerkin?  50 

Prince.  Why,  what  a  pox  have  I  to  do  with  my  hos- 
tess of  the  tavern?  ^ 
Fal.  Well,  thou  hast  called  her  to  a  reckoning  many 

a  time  and  oft. 
Prince.  Did  I  ever  call  for  thee  to  pay  thy  part? 
Pal.  No;    I  '11  give  thee  thy  due,  thou  hast  paid  all 

there. 
Prince.  Yea,  and  elsewhere,  so  far  as  my  coin  would 
stretch;  and  where  it  would  not,  I  have  used  my 
credit.  60 

Pal.  Yea,  and  so  used  it  that,  were  it  not  here  appa- 
rent that  thou  art  heir  apparent — But,  I  prithee, 
sweet  wag,  shall  there  be  gallows  standing  in 
England  when  thou  art  king?  and  resolution 
thus  K^^  ^  rtis  with  the  rusty  curb  of  old 
father  antic  the  law?  Do  not  thou,  when  thou 
art  king,  hang  a  thief. 

34 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  I.  Sc.  ii. 

Prince.  No;    thou  shaltg^^^f  ^i^t4^?6U*^^ 

Fal.  Shall   I?     O  i^lBy   thi    Lord,    I'll   be   a 

b^^dge.  70     .         ^ 

Prince.  Thou  judgest  false  already:  I  mean,  ^^^^  t^^^^^^^^^^l^*' 
shall  have  the  hanging  of  the  thieves  and  ^<^^^^^^j^  ^ 
become  a  rare  hangman.  Oa^jtJ^jL^^^  \>^yoy^^ 

Fal  Well,  Hal,  well;  and  in  some  sort  it  j^ps  with ' 
my  humour  as  well  as  waiting,  in  jM-Cjmit  I 
can  tell  you.  OuiMcu^^^ ^J,^ 

Prince.  For  obtaining  ofjuits?  ■ijd^/^jt.a^  U  ^Louu-pj^euu 

Fal.  Yea,  for  obtainin^of  suits,  whereof  the  hang-  (I 

^^      r  man  hath  no  lean^rdrobe^  'W^^3^i}fi^^f:U£iJl>uxljl*^, 
'^^'^^^''^^^  an^ya^ofa  lu^JWrTt^^rn^^S^^ 

^     Prince.  Or  an  old  Hon,  or  a  lover's  lute.  ^  -(Q^  /^, 

Fal.  Yea,  or  the^rone  of  a  Lincolnshire  ^bagpipe.      ^^5^, 

"^^frSt.  Thou  hast  the  mjst  uns^vourv  sj^l^,  and  ^vtOi  lU^^j,^ 


Prince.  What  sayest  thou  to  a  hare,  or  the  melan-  ^^^gw^ 
^^aT^      choly  of  Mooizditch?  &,,iu/uvu^f^^  (V^-eSc^JUM 

^M"''^.  Thou  hast  the  mojst  ^rnisavourv  simUes,  and  ^"^"^aJUojc^^ 
/^^^indeed  the  most  ]i^^^;V%l^gift?st,  sweet  Jc^^LoiJ 
,j(/uil(^^^^  yowng  prince.  But,  Hal,  I  prithee,  trouble  me  y^£^.&ucMu 
Ajuu^  no  more  with  vanity^IwQuld  to  God  thou  iM^jPt&ji- 
'^^*^  and  I  knew  where  a  (^^^wy  of  good  names  d^cviu^  ^ 


were  to  be  bought.     An  old  lord  of  the  councd     90 
rated  me  th^  2^^  ^^^  ^^  ^^^  street  about  you, 
sir,  but  I  mif^^him  not;    and  yet  he  talked 
very  wisely,  but  I  regarded  him  not;  and  yet  he 
talked  wisely,  and  in  the  street  too. 

Prince.  Thou  didst  well;  for  wisdom  cries  out  in  the 
streets,  and  no  man  regards  it. 

Fal  O,  thou  hast  damnable  iteradon,  and  art  indeed 
able  to  corrupt  a  saint.  Thou  hast  done  much 
harm  upon  me,  Hal;    God  forgive  thee  ior  it!      ^       /? 


Act  I.  Sc.  ii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Before    I    knew    thee,    Hal,    I    knew   nothing;   lOO 
and  now  am  I,  if  a  man  should  speak  truly, 
B»»^,  little  better  than  one  of  the  wicked.     I   must 

}jtJ/»i(ici£jiJ'  give  over  this  life,  and  I  will  give  it  over:  by 
iLiUM^  the  Lord,  an  I  do  not,  I  am  a  villain:  I  '11  be 
ILf^jJg)  damned  for  never  a  king's  son  in  Christendom. 
%&(£jett/Princc.  Where  shall  we  take  a  purse  to-morrow.  Jack  ? 
?i££^  Fal.  'Zounds,  where  thou. wilt,  lad-  I  '11  make  one; 
Vumu*     an  I  do  not,  call  me  villain  ana  baffle  me. 

Prince.  I   see   a   good  amendment  of  life   in   thee; 
o)  from  praying  to  purse-taking.  no 

Fal.  Why,  Hal,  'tis  my  vocation,  Hal;  'tis  no  sin 
for  a  man  to  labour  in  his  vocation. 

Enter  Poins.  ^  fj 

P^ns!     Now  shall  we  know  if  Gadshi4l  have. 
^^ *'^ra^m|tcli.     O,  if  men  were  to  be  saved  by" 
merit,  what  hole  in  hell  were  hot  enough  for 
him?     This  is  the  most  omnipotent  villain  that 
ever  cried  '  Stand '  to  a  m^'^man. 
Prince.  Good  morrow,  Ned. 

Pozn^.  Good  morrow,  sweet  Hal.  What  savs  Mon^ieujr-    •   ^^^^^^^jrin 
Remorse  ?  what  says  Sir  John  SacKana  ^g^rrygo  •  J 
Jack!    how  agrees  the  devil  and  thee  about  thy 
soul,  that  thou  soldest  him  on  Good  Friday  last 
for  a  cup  of  Madeira  and  a  cold  capon's  leg? 

Prince.  Sir  John  stands  to  his  word,  the  devil  shall 
have  his  bargain;  for  he  was  never  yet  a 
breaker  of  proverbs:  he  will  give  the  devil  his 
due. 

Poins.  Then  art  thou  damned  for  keeping  thy  word 
with  the  devil. 

36 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  I.  Sc.  ii. 

Prince.  Else  he  had  been  damned  for  cozening  the  130 

devil. 
Poins.  But,  my  lads,  my  lads,  to-morrow  morning,       ^^^ 
by  four  o'clock,   early  at   GadshilU'^  There  are^^;^^^ 
"^^g^^^^^^^  pilgrims  going  to  Canterbury  with  rich  offer- T/^^'^ 

tr  P   /)       purses:    I  have  vizkfds  for  vou/^lL;    you  have  -^    «  ^>?  ^ 
.f./W^  horses  for  yourselves:    Gadshill  ^^night  i"  ^^J^^ 
ijft^^f'^      Rochester:    I   have  bespoke  supper  to-morrow        ^j 
d  J^f^     night  in  Eastcheap :    we  may  do  it  as  secure  as   140 
%oW^        sleep.    If  you  will  go,  I  will  stuff  your  purses  full 
UcPhjy^^*^  of  crowns;  if  you  will  not,  tarry  at  home  and  be 

Pal.  Hear  ye,  \  edward ;   if  I  tarry  at  home  and  go 

not,  I  '11  hang  you  for  going,  u    f)^    ^  nn     ' 

Poins.  You  will,  choii^^  Au  a>^  <^  fM  ^^^'^^^     ^^ 

Pal  Hal,  wilt  thou  make  one?  ^U,^^  fCUnj^^^xY/^ 

Prince.  Who,  I  rob?   I  a  thief?   not  I,  by  my  faith. 

Pal.  There's  neither  honesty,   manhood,  nor  good 

fellowship  in  thee,  nor  thou  camest  not  of  the 

blood  royal,  if  thou  darest  not  stand  for  ten 

shillings.  150 

.  Prince.  Well  then,  once  in  my  days  I  '11  be  a  madcap. 

Pal.  Why,  that 's  well  said.  jJUic<i^/zo,  -i^^uy 

Prince.  Well,  come  what  will,  I  '11  tarr>^at  homfe. 

Pal.  By  the  Lord,  I  '11  be  a  traitor  then,  when  thou 
art  king. 

Prince.  I  care  not. 

Poins.  Sir  John,  I  prithee,  leave  the  prince  and  me 
alone:  I  will  lay  him  down  such  reasons  for 
this  adventure  that  he  shall  go. 

Pal.  Well,  God  give  thee  the  spirit  of  persuasion  and  160 
him  the  ears  of  profiting,  that  what  thou  speakest 

37 


Act  I.  Sc.  ii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

may  move  and  what  he  hears  may  be  believed, 
that  the  true  prince  may,  for  recreation  sake, 
prove  a  false  thief ;  for  the  poor  abuses  of  the 
time  want  countenance!  Farewell :  you  shall 
find  me  in  Eastcheap. 

"^V  '  'Pruice.  Farewell,  thou  latter  springJ    farewell,  All- 
pfUKnxMtC£4P'  }-(a||Q^yj^  summer !  [Exit  Falstaif. 

}  Poins.  Now,  my  good  sweet  honey  lord,  ride  with  us 

to-morrow:   I  have  a  jest  to  execute  that  I  can-  170 
not  manage  alone.     Falstaff,  Bardolph,  Peto  and 
Gadshill  shall  rob  those  men  that  we  have  already 
waylaid ;   yourself  and  I  will  not  be  there ;   and 
when  they  have  the  booty,  if  you  and  I  do  not 
rob  them,  cut  this  head  off  from  my  shoulders. 
Prince.  How  shall  we  part  with  them  in  setting  forth  ? 
Poins.  Why,  we  will  set  forth  before  or  after  them, 
and  appoint  them  a  place  of  meeting,  wherein 
it  is  at  our  pleasure  to  fail,  and  then  will  they 
adventure  upon  the  exploit  themselves;    which  180 
they  shall  have  no  sooner  achieved,  but  we  '11 
set  upon  them. 
Prince.  Yea,  but  'tis  like  that  thevAvill  know  us  by 
our  horses,  by  our  Mufts^'ana^by  every  other 
''^^Dpomfmem,  to  be  ourselves. 
Poins.  Tut!    our  horses  they  shall  not  see;    I  *11  tie 
'  (fjUi£/c£e£^     them  in  the  wood ;    our  vizards  we  will  change 
lejlt^cu^      after  we  leave  them:    and,^^^^jxral:i,  J/^ha^ve  casej 
?^^'4i!t^ ^     '     of  buckram  for  the  nonce,  to  ^m^^^^SJr^uo^ 

'AxA^i^^'^^^Trincc.  Yea,  but  I  doupt  they  will  be  too  hard  for  us. 

Poins.  Well,  for  two  of  them,  I  kno\i7/them  to  be  as 
true-bred  cowards  as  ever  turn^y^b&k ;   and  for 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  I.  Sc.  ii. 

the  third,  if  he  fight  longer  than  he  sees  reason, 
I  '11  forswear  arms.  The  virtue  of  this  jest  will 
be,  the  incomprehensible  lies  that  this  same  fat 


rogue  will  tell  us  when  we  meet  at  suoper:   how    fl 


thirty,  at  least,  he  fought  with;    wM^Wdg'^^f^ 

what  blows,  what  extremities  he  endured;  and 

in  the  ^^om^otuYis  lies  the  jest.  201 

Prince.  Well,  I'll  go  with  thee:  provide  us  all  things 

necessary,    and    meet    me    to-morrow  night  in 

Eastcheap;    there  1  '11  sup.     Farewell. 
Poins.  Farewell,  my  lord.  [Exit. 

Prince.  I  know  vpiv,all,  and,  will  a  while  uphold 

ihe  unyoKeanumouroi  your  idleness: 

Yet  herein  will  I  imitate  the^n,  ^  n 

Who  doth  permit  the  base  conmpo^  clouds 

To  smother  up  his  beauty  from  the  world. 

That,  when  he  please  again  to  be  himself,  210 

Being  wanted,  he  may  be  more  wonder'd  at. 

By  breaking  through  the  foul  and  ugly  mists 

Of  vapours  that  did  seem  to  strangle  him. 

If  all  the  year  were  playing  holidays, 

To  sport  w^ould  be  as  tedious  as  to  work; 

But  when  they  seldom  come,  they  wish'd  for  come. 

And  nothing  pleaseth  but  rare  accidents. 

So,  when  this  loose  behaviour  I  throw  off 

And  pay  the  debt  I  never  promised, 

By  how  much  better  than  my  word  I  am,  ^     ^       220. 

By  so  much  shall  I  falsify  men^^^^^^^^^^ 

And  like  bright  metal  on  a^^uften'ground. 

My  reformation,  glittering  o'er  my  fault. 

Shall  show  more  goodly  and  attract  more  eyes 

Than  that  which  hath  nojoi^to  set  it  off.  ^ 


Act  I.  Sc.  iii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

I'll  so  offend,  to  make  offence  a  skill; 
Redeeming  time  when  men  think  least  I  will. 

{Exit. 

il^^/iUA-  (TdAfi&L         Scene  III.    Ayvu/^u^  Oaa^^ 


Enter  the  King,  Northumberland,   Worcester,  Wotspuff"^'^ 
Sir  Walter  Blunt,  zvith  others.  4^a 


f)       A    King.  My  blood  hath  been  too  cold  and  temp 
r  ^     '^^^^^ yjUn3.pt  to  stir  at  these  indignities, 
J'^^^^^And  vou  have^und  me:   for  accordingly 
^^O-CAiT^ueft)  You  tread  upon  my  patience:   but  be  sure 
I  will  from  henceforth  rather  be  mysel 
Mighty  and  to  be  fear'd,  than  my  ^o^Uion^' 
Which  hath  been  smooth  as  oil,  soft  as  young  down, 
And  therefore  lost  that  title  of  respect 
Which  the  proud  soul  ne'er  pays  but  to  the  proud. 
War.  Our  house,  my  sovereign  liege,  little  deserves      lo 
The  scourge  of  greatness  to  be  used  on  ii; ; 
And  that  same  greatness  too  which  our  own  hands 
Have  holp  to  make  so  portly. 
North.  My  lord, — 

King.  Worcester,  get  thee  gone;  for  I  do  see    .      ^ 
Danger  and  disobedience  in  thine  eye:       J^^^^y:/ 
O,  sir,  your  presence  is  too  bold  and  peremptory, 
And  majesty  ffiigfet  never  yetjendure 
^Jj      The  moody  from|^or  ^'^ervant  brow. 
0]^     \        ^^^  have  good  leave  to  leave  us  :   when  we  need    20 
^ji^r\  Your  use  and  counsel,  we  shall  send  for  you. 

/     '  [Exit  Wor. 

You  were  about  to  speak.  -  [To  North, 

Aufuix^  iZmi^uJl'v^  ikjixDiY^  4^tXi«^^ 


k'(J^ 


L  -"^^"^ 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Aci  I.  Sc.  Hi. 

North.  Yea,  my  good  lord. 

Those  prisoners  in  your  highness'  name  demanded, 
Which  Harry  Percy  here  at  Holme^ntook,^^^^^^^  4e^uju>^ 
Were,  as  he  says,  not  wi^siich  st^^ff  denied    ' 

As  is  rf^M^l^^i^^i^^^^,^,,^^ 
Either  envy,  therefore,  or^mispnsiOrf 
Is  guilty  of  this  fault  aad  not  my  son. 
Hot,  My  liege,  I  did  d^^'noprisoners. 

But  I  remember,  when  the  fight  was  done,  30 

When  I  was  dry  with  rage  and  extreme  toil, 
Breathless  and  faint,  leaning  upon  my  sword, 
Came  there  a  certain  lord,  neat,  and  ^ri^^ 

J    Fresh  as  a  bridegroom;  and  his  chm'ri^WTl^^  ^/c/^ 
Show'd  like  a  stubble-land  at  harvest  home;^  Y   .    ^ 

He  was  perfumed  like  a  milliaa: ;  (aaaxAJ^l4aXa  ,  dlti  y  Jl}-  <W 
mjl^uJl4.     And  'twixt  his  finger  and  his  thumb  he  held     ^suuUZk^  dfi 
y/<^fef   \  pouncet-box,  which  ever  and  anon  PclcS  r-t^  fhA 

iW^    He  gave  his  nose  and  took't  away  again; 
^ TuaM^  Wh0  therewi/bli  angrv,  when  it  next  came  there,    40 
"T^l    TOitmMt^nd  still  he  smiled  and  talkHl, 
And  as  the  soldiers  bore  dead  bodies  by. 
He  call'd  them  ^^^^^^ay^^^u^^^ 
To  bring  dL^fmon^^^nds^iQ  corse 
Betwixt  the  wijd  and  his  riQbilitv. 
With  many  mm9*^nd  'faSy  fefms 
He  questioned  me;   amongst  the  rest,  demanded 
My  prisoners  in  your  majesty's  behalf. 
^4}^  I      I  then,  all  smarting  with  my-  wounds  being  cold, 
^^l     To  be  so  pest^r'd  with  a  p^^^V  5° 

^    \     Out  of  my  ^rcf^^nd. my  impatience, 

I     Answer'd  r^^^^^tf  I  know  not  what, 

He  should,  or  he  should  not;  for  he  made  me  mad 


Act  I.  Sc.  iii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

^  To  see  him  shine  so  brisk,  and  smell  so  sweet, 

And  talk  so  like  a  waiting-gentlewoman 

tsi^yOJt*^ ,  Of  guns  and  drums  and  wounds,— God__saye    the 

l&ucf^itf^        mark!— 

And  telling  m^  -die  sovereign'st  thing  on  earth 
Was  pmna^flliofan  inward  bruise; 
And  that  it  was  great  pity,  so  it  was, 
This  villanous  §aii^petre  should  be  digg'd  60 

Out  of  the  bowels,  of  the  harmless  earth. 
Which  many  a*goo(f^fQalQ^w  had  destroy'd 
So  cowardly;   and  but  for  these  vile  guns. 
He  would  himself  have  been  a  soldier. 
This  bald  ur^^fjachat  of  his,  my  lord, 
I  answered  indirectly,  as  I  said; 
And  I  beseech  you,  let  not  his  report 
Come  current  for  an  accusation 
Betwixt  my  love  and  your  high  majesty. 
Blunt.  The  circumstance  consider'd,  good  my  lord,       70 
Whate'er  Lord  Harry  Percy  then  had  said 
To  such  a  person  and  in  such  a  place. 
At  such  a  time,  with  all  the  rest  re-told, 
May  reasonably  die  and  never  rise  '       oyijtjtJ^tjJ^ 

To  do  him  wrong,  or  any  way  irffp^^h  '  '^^f 
What  then  he  said,  so  he  unsay  it  now. 
King.  Why,  yet  lieooth  deny  his  prisoners, 
But  with  provis'o  and  exception. 
That  we  at  our  own  charge  shall  ransom  straight 
His  brother-in-law,  the  foolish  Mortimer;  80 

Who,  on  my  soul,  hath  wilfully  betray'd 
The  lives  of  those  that  he  did  lead  to  fight 
,  Against  that  great  magician,  damn'd  Glendower, 
Whose  daughter,  as  we  hear,  the  Earl  of  March 
42 


KING  HENRY  IV.      4^..^^  &7^g7y^^ 

Hath  lately  married.     Shall  our  coffers,  then,  ^    ^ 

Be  emptied  to  redeem  a  traitor  home?  '(j^(^'s2€l^<>f(XjeJi^ 
Shall  we  buy  treason?  and'^indent  with  fears,      ^iguc^^-^ 
CficL  When  they  have  lost  and  forfeited  themselves? 

No,  on  the  barren  mountains  let  him  starve; 
For  I  shall  never  hold  that  man  my  friend  90 

Whose  tongue  shall  ask  me  for  one  penny  cost 
To  ransom  home  revolted  Mortimer. 
Hot.  Revolted  Mortimer  ' /^^£^.,i^ 

He  never  did  ^ff^tt/n^'sovereign  liege, 
But  by  the  chance  of  war:   to  prove  that  true 
Needs  no  more  but  one  tongue  for  all  those  wounds, 
Those  mZtKneoAvounds,  which  valiantly  he  took,     rj 
When  on  the  gentle  Severn's^'^gy^b^nie:*^ .  XftA^3^ 
In  single  opposition,  hand  to  hand. 
He  jiidc(:2STJT^^  mebest  part  of  an  hour  100 

In  ghangi^  h^rdiment  with  great  Glendower: 
Three  times  they  breathed  and  three  times  did  they 

drink, 
"Upon  agreement,  of  swift  Severn's  flood; 
Who   thop,  affrighted  with  their  bloody  looks. 
Ran  ^anmly  arpong  the  trembling  reeds, 
And  hid  his  cnspTOa'ff^^^ml^  hollow  bank 
Bloodstained  with  these  valiant  combatants. 
Never,  did  base  and  rotten  policy 
''        _C6Iou£tier^vSrking  witli  such  deadly  wounds; 

Nor  never  could  the  noble  Mortimer  no 

Receive  so  many,  and  all  willingly: 
Then  let  not  hum  baslan^ex'd  with  revolt. 
King.  Thou  dost  Beli^Mm7P^x>',  thou  dost  belie  him; 
He  never  did  encounter  with  Glendower : 
I  tell  thee, 

43 


Act  L  Sc.  iii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

He  durst  as  well  have  met  the  devil  alone 

As  Owen  Glendower  for  an  enemy. 

Art  thou  not  ashamed?    But,  sirrah,  henceforth 

Let  me  not  hear  you  speak  of  Mortimer: 

Send  me  your  prisoners  with  the  speediest  means, 

Or  you  shall  hear  in  such  a  kind  from  me  121 

As  will  displease  you.    My  lord  Northumberland, 

We  license  your  departure  with  your  son. 

Send  us  your  prisoners,  or  you  will  hear  of  it. 

[Exeunt  King  Henry,  Blunt,  and  train. 

Hot.  An  if  the  devil  come  and  roar  for  them, 
;     I  will  not  send  them:    I  will  after  straight 
'      And  tell  him  so;  for  I  will  ease  my  heart, 
Albeit  I  make  a  hazard  of  my  head. 

North.  What,  drunk  with  choler?  stay  and  pause  a  while- 
Here  comes  your  uncle. 

Re-enter  Worcester. 

Hot.  Speak  of  Mortimer!  130 

'Zounds,  I  will  speak  of  him;  and  let  my  soul 
Want  mercy'  ^i  L^o  not  join  with  him: 
Yea,  on  hi?^^^l  '11  empty  all  these  veins, 
And  shed  my  dear  blood  drop  by  drop  in  the  dust, 
But  I  will  lift  the  down-trod  Mortimer 
As  high  in  the  air  as  this  unthankful  king. 
As  this  ingrate  and  cank^r^d  Bolingbroke. 

North.  Brother,  the  king  hath  made  your  nephew  mad. 

Wor.  Who  struck  this  heat  up  after  I  was  gone? 

Hot.  He  will,  forsooth,  have  all  my  prisoners;  140 

And  when  I  urged  the  ransom  once  again 
.      Of  my  wife's  brother,  ^hen^i^chg^^^^ 
And  on  my  face  he  turn'd  an  ^  oTdHJC}!/^^^ 
44 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  I.  Sc.  iii. 

Trembling  even  at  the  name  of  Mortimer. 
IVor.  I  cannot  blame  him:   was  not  he  proclaim'd 

By,  Richard  that  dead  is  the  next  of  blood? 
North.  He  was;   I  heard  the  proclamation: 

And  then  it  was  when  the  unhappy  king, — 
Whose  wrongs  in  us  God  pardon! — did  set  forth 
Upon  his  Irish  expedition;  150 

From  whence  he  intercepted  did  return 
To  be  deposed  and  shortly  murdered. 
Wor.  And  fonwhose  death  we  in  the  world's  wide  mouth 

Live  scan&a|[^8^^d  foully  spoken  of. 
Hot.  But,  soft,  Tpray  you;  did   King  Richard  then 
Proclaim  my  brother  Edmund  Mortimer 
Heir  to  the  crown? 
North.  He  did;  myself  did  hear  it. 

Hot.  Nay,  then  I  cannot  blame  his  cousin  king, 

That  wish'd  him  on  the  barren  mountainsystarve. 
,    But  shall  it  be,  that  you,  that  set  the  crown       160 
/J^2^^<2fc*'i'^^Upon  the  head  of  this  forgetful  man, 
<jUAyuik»^    And  for  his  sake  w^r  the~^etested  blot 
-y  ouutsif*.'  Of  murderous  siibornation,  shall  it  be, 
«6u^>tu^ft3Bi<^Tha't  you  a  wOtld  of  curses  undergo. 

Being  the  agents,  or  base  second  means. 
The  cords,  the  ladder,  or  the  hangman  rather? 
O,  pardon  me  that  I  descends^^.^w,    ^^ 
To  show  the  Ime  and  the  preoicarnent  f      ( 

Wherein  you  range  under  this  subtle  king; 
Shall  it  for  shame  be  spoken  m  these  days,  170 

Or  fill  up  chronicles  in  time  to  come. 
That  men  of  yQur  nobility  and  power 
Gd^Ji  -     Did^^^[iem#hn  an  unjust  behalf, 
QSloOt    ^^  boTnof  you— feod  pardon  it ! — have  done, 


Act  I.  Sc.  iii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

To  put  down  Richard^  that^weet  lovely  ro^.     ^ 
And  plant  this  thorn,  this  ^fig^ff^Iingfe^^T^ 
And  shall  it  in  more  shame  be  further  spoken, 
That  you  are  fool'd,  discarded  and  shook  off 
By  him  for  whom  these  shames  ye  underwent? 
No;  yet  time  serves  wherein  you  may  redeem       i8o 
Your  banish'd  honours,  and  restore  yourselves 
Into  the  good  thoughts  of  tfi^e  avoxM  again. 
Revenge  the  jeering  and  ^^^mMcfentempt 
Of  this  proud  king,  who  studies  day  and  night 
To  answep  all  the  debt  he  owes  to  you 
Even  with  the  bloody  payment  of  your  deaths; 
Therefore,  I  say, — 
Wor.  Peace,  cousin,  say  no  more: 

And  now  I  will  unclasp  a  secret  book. 
And  to  your  quick-conceiving  discontents 
I  '11  read  you  matter  deep  and  dangerous,  190 

As  full  of  peril  and  adventurous  spirit 
^ajujuaJJitnjL    As  to  o'er-walk  a^current  roaring  loud 
jiA^f^^-f^       On  the  liffsreaoFa^  footing  of  a  spear. ,  ^f) 

^^^^^-^^  Hot.  If  he  fall  m,^ood_night!   or^ink  or  swim:  ^^i^^Qz/H- 

r'**^       Send  danger  from  the  east  unto  the  west,    A^tIi(i£u/tA 
So  honour  cross  it  from  the^north  to  south,    ' 
And  let  them^^^g^e":   O/rhe  blood  more  stirs 
To  rouse  a  lion  than  to  start  a  hare!  f      -  H 

North.  Imagination  of  some  great  ^xplpit^^^^^^^^jt^/^^  fi'^^^^^^ 

Drives  him  beyond  the  bounds  of  ^aSnce.         200 
Hot.  By  heaven, 'tpe^tjiinks  it  were,  an  easy  leap. 

To  pluck  bright  honour  from  the  pale-faced  moon. 
Or  dive  into  th^.  bottom  of  the  deep. 
Where  fSnom3J?e  could  never  touch  the  ground, 
And  pluck  up  drowned  honour  by  the  locks; 
46 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  I.  Sc.  iii. 

So  he  that  dgth  redeem  her^  thence  might  wear 
Without  domval 'al 


But  out  upon  this JmlT^^afelroVship !  q    j^ 

Wor.  He^^2]^j5?^s  a  world  of  ^^^^here,         V  •     r: 

But  not  the  form  of  what  he  should  attend.         2^"*"^^ 

Gopd  cousin,  give  me  audience  for  a  while. 
Hot.  \^^§§^zjy^^£oc^ 
Wor.  Those  same  noble  Scots  ■ 

That  are  your  prisoners, — 
Hot.  .  VU  keep  them  all; 

By  God,  he  shall  not  have  a  Scot  of  them; 

No,  if  a  Scot  would  save  his  soul,  he  shall  not: 

ril  keep  them,  by  this  hand.  \ 

Wor.  You  start  away 

And  lend  no  ear  unto  my  purposes.  , 

Those  prisoners  you  shall  keep.  \ 

Hot.  Nay,  I  will;  that's  flat; 

He  said  he  would  not  ransom  Mortimer; 

Forbad  my  tongue  to  speak  of  Mortimer;  220 

But  I  will  find  him  when  he  lies  asleep, 

And  in  his  ear  I  '11  holla  '  Mortimer! ' 
•  Nay, 

I  '11  have  a  starling  shall  be  taught  to  speak 

Nothing  but  '  Mortimer,'  and  give  it  him, 

To  keep  his  anger  still  in  motion. 
Wor.  Hear  you,  cousin;   a  word.  ^//  , 

Hot.  All  studies  here  I  solemnjv  Se^Tr-  ''        / 

Save  how  to  galled  om^hthiZI^ 
'iCoi/j^^^  that  s a m e%\vo r d^^-b u^le r  r nn c e  of  Wales, 
yijz  But  that  I  think  his  father  loves  him  not  231 

,^^j) .     And  would  be  glad  he  met  with  some  mischance, 
,  n        I  would  have  him  poison'd  with  a  pot  of  ale. 

47 


Act  I.  Sc.  iii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

IVor.  Farewell,  kinsman:   I'll  talk  to  you 
iJ^A^       When  you  are  better  temper'd  to  attend. 
jc£c.  p  North.  Why,  what  a  wasp-stun^  and  impatient  fool 
iijif  iJUi         Art  thou  to  brealTinto  this  woman's  mood, 
nUfiS^         Tying  thine  ear  to  no  tongue  but  thine  own! 

Hot.  Why,  look  you,  I  am  whipp'd  and  scourged  with 
rods,  L 

Xettled,  and  stung  with  p^^fes,  when  I  hear    240 
Of  this  vile  politician,  Bolingbroke. 
In  Richard's  time, — what  do  you  call  the  place? — 
A  plague  upon  it,  it  is  in  Gloucestershire;  /;    ^nB— 
'Twas  where  the  madcap  duke  his  uncle  k^ir/ 
His  uncle  York;   where  I  first  bow'd  my  knee 
Unto  this  king  of  smiles,  this  Bolingbroke, — 
'Sblood!— 

When  you  and  he  came  back  from  Ravenspurgh. 
North.  At  Berkley-castle. 

Hot.  You  say  true:  250 

Why,  what  a  candy  deal  of  courtesy 
This  fawning  greyhound  then  did  proffer  me! 
.      •  Look,  '  when  his  infant  fortune  came  to  -age,' 

keiLM>«^      And  '  gentle  Harry  Percy,'  and  '  kind  coUsin  '  ; 

.   (^  sjAfx)  O'  the  devil  take  such^cozener^ !    God  forgive  me! 
tAw^*^(]    '     Good  uncle,  tell  your  tale;  I  have  done. 
Wor.  Nay,  if  you  have  not,  to  it  again; 

We  will  stay  your  leisure. 
Hot.  I  have  done,  i'  faith. 

Wor.  Then  once  more  to  your  Scottish  prisoners. 

Deliver  them  up  without  their  ransom  straight,    260 
And  make  the  Douglas'  son  your  only  meaiy^ 
For  powers  in  Scotland ;  which,  for  divers  reasons 
Which  I  shall  send  vou  written,  be  assured, 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  I.  Sc.  iii. 

Will  easily  be  granted.     You,  my  lord, 

[To  Northumberland. 
Your  son  in  Scotland  being  thus  employ'd, 
Shall  secretly  into  the  bosom  creep 
Of  that  same  noble  prelate,  well  beloved, 
The  archbishop. 
Hot.  Of  York,  is  it  not? 

IVor.  True;   who  bears  hard  270 

His  brother's  death  at  Bristol,  the  Lord  Scroop. 
I  speak  not  this  in  xsnfi^onf^^^'^^^^'" 
As  what  I  think  might  be,  but  what  I  know 
Is  ruminated,  plotted  and  set  down. 
And  only  stays  but  to  behold  the  face 
liZgLUyj^     Of  that  occasion  that  shall  bring  it  on. 
^'  ^go^^I  smeh  it:   upon  mv  life,  it  wiU  do^welj^^^^  ^^^^^^^^^ 
U/Cj^North.  Before  the  game  is  a-foot,  thou  still  lel'st  slip,  ij^l^^j^'^i'^ 
\jjj(^^ot.  Why,  it  cannot  choose  but  be  a  noble  plot :  ^ 

f^^ljl       And  then  the  power  of  Scotland  and  of  York,     280 
(  e^ekUAJ^^-^  ^i^h  Mortimer,  ha? 

IVor.  And 'SO  they  shall 

Hot.  In  faith,  it  is  exceedingly  weH-aim'd.         *  U/f^^ 

Wor.  And  'tis  no  little  r^^tson  bids-  us  speed, 

To  save  our  Tre'^^^f^pyraising  of -a  head  •     ^     ^^j^ 

For,  bear  ourselves  as^e^^^%K\^c'a'Ti7^'^^^^  f 

The  king  will  always  think  him  in  our  debt, 

And  think  we  think  ourselves  unsati^Bed,        On      IL/jQ. 

Till  he  hath  found  a  time  to.pay  4ls'^home:     /"^^  '/"^^ 

And  see  already  how  he  doth  begin 

To  make  us  strangers  to  his  looks  of  love.  290 

Hot.  Hedoes,  he  does :  we  '11  be  revenged  on  him. 

Wor.  Cousm]'far?well :   no  further  go  in  this 
Than  I  by  letters  shall  direct  your  course. 

49 


Act  II.  Sc.  i.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

When  time  is  ripe,  which  will  be  siijdemy, 

I  '11  steal  to  Glendower  and  Lord  Mortimer; 

Where  you  and  Douglas  and  our  powers  at  once, 

As  I  will  fashion  it,  shall  happily  meet. 

To  bear  our  fortunes  in  our  own  strong  arms, 

Which  now  we  hold  at  much  uncertainty. 

North.  Farewell,  good  brother:   we  shall  thrive,  I  trust. 

Hot.  Uncle,  adieu:    O,  let  the  hours  be  short  301 

Till  fields  and  blows  and  groans  applaud  our  sport! 

[Exeunt. 

ACT  SECOND. 

^^  Scene  I.  ^ 

n  \        Rochester.     An  inn  yard^    ^  r^ 

Enter  a  Carrier  zvith  a  Icmternmnis  hind.  ^ 

First  Car.  Heigh-ho!   ^n  itbe  not  four  by  the  day, 

I  '11  be  hanged  :^fSarTes   wa_in  is  over  y,ijej^w^^^/(rjt 


chimney,  and  yet  our  liorse  not  packed.    vThatT^ 
ostler!  Hm^^^^,  '    ZjU^i^^'^ 

Ost.   [Within^   Anon,, anot^r 
nn     E^^^^  ^^^-  I  prithee,  Tom,  beat  Cufs^sa^dJe,  put  a^ 
'-y^^*^       few  flocks^in  the^point ;   poor  jade,  is^rungjn 
tyP  the_withers  out  of 'ST^^.'^'*^**'^  ^  M»j&jijU, 

fl^^s^^^^Lu  tSj^  £^^^^^  ^^^^^;^^^  Carrier. 

Sec.  Car.  Peas  and  beans  are  as  danK  here  as  a  dog, 
and  that  is  the^neSf^^^^"  iogvve  poor  jades  the 

^^ijots:    tnis  house  is  turned  upside  down  since     10 
Robin  Ostler  died. 

First  Car.  Poor  fellow,  never  joyed  since  the  price 
of  oats  rose;  it  was  the  death  of  him. 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  II.  Sc.  i. 

Sec.  Car.  I  think  this  be  the  most  villanous  house 

in  all  London  road  for  fleas:   I  am  stungjike  a 

jench. 
First  Ca;'^,Like.  a  t^ch!   by  the  mass,  there  is  ne'er 

a  kin^cfiris^ri^icofcld  be  better  bit  than  I  have 

been  since  the  first  cock.  t>c<9ur^ 
Sec.  Car.  Why,  they  will  allow  us  ne'er  a  Jordan, 

and  then  we  leak  in  your  chimney;    and  your 

chamberlie  breeds  fleas  like  a  loach. 
First  Car.  What,  ostler!  come  away  and  be  hanged! 

Sec.  Car.  I  have  a  gammon  of  bacon  and  two  razes' ^^^'^^ 
of  ginger,  to  be  delivered  as  far  as  Charing-     -^^^-^M-a 
cross. 

First  Car.  God's  body!  the  turkeys  in  my  pannier 
are  quite  starved.  What,  ostler!  A  plague 
on  thee!  hast  thou  never  an  eye  in  thy  head?  30 
canst  not  hear?  An  'twere  not  as  good  deed 
as  drink,  to  break  the  pate  on  thee,  I  am  a 
very  villain.     Come,  and  be  hanged!    hast  no 

^       faith  in  thee? 

E}iter  Gadshill. 

Gads.  Good  morrow,  carriers.     What's  o'clock? 

First  Car.  I  think  it  be  two  o'clock. 

Gads.  I  prithee,  lend  me  thy  lantern,  to  see  my  geld- 
ing in  the  stable^  '  Sri/t^^ 

First  Car.  ^^^^^fT^f^M'-^lknow  a  trick  worth 

two  of  that,  i'  faith.  40 

Gads.  I  pi^y  thee,  lend  me  thine. 

Sec.  Car.  ^v.  when?  canst  tell?  Lend  me  thy  lan- 
tern, quoth  he  ?  marry,  I  '11  see  thee  hanged 
first. 


Act  II.  Sc.  1.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Gads.  Sirrah  carrier,  what  time  do  you  mean  to 
come  to  London? 

Sec.  Car.  Time  enough  to  go  to  bed  with  a  candle, 
I  warrant  thee.  Come,  neighbour  Mugs,  we  '11 
call  up  the  gentlemen:  they  \^1  along  with 
company,  for  they  have  great  cn^^f*f^  50 

^[Exeunt  Carriers. 

Gads.  What,  ho!  '^'^^"bi^ir^^^^^^^^V. 

Chain.    [Within]   At  hanCTquotn  pick-pur^f 

Gads.  That 's  even  as  fair  as — at  hand,  quoth  the 
chamberlain;  for  thou  variest  no  more  from 
picking  of  purses  than  giving  direction  doth 
from  labouring;  thou  layest  the  plot  how. 

Enter  Chamberlain. 

Cham.  Good   morrow,    Master   Gadshill.     It   holds 
/,  current  that  I  told^^ou  yesternight:    there's  a 

jeeJc»*{&^  franklin  in  the  wiTdof  Kent  hath  brought  three 
■^JidTiutfitM.^  hundred  marfe"  with  him  in  gold :    I  heard  him     60 
/  tell   it   to   one   of   his    company   last   night   at 

supper;  a  kind  of  auditor;  one  that  hath  abun- 
dance of  charge  too,  God  knows  what.  They 
are  up  alreadv,  and  call  for  eggs  and  butter: 
they  will  away  P^'^^^^f^''^'''^^  ioT-^^xOBut/ 

Gads.  Sirrah,  if  they  meet  not  with  SaintJNficn6las  //^^L 

clerks,  I  '11  give  thee  this  neck.  ^ , 

Cham.  No,  I'll  none  of  it:    I  pray  thee,  keep  that      •* 
for  the  hangman;  for  I  know  thou  worshippest 
Saint  Nicholas  as  truly  as  a  man  of  falsehood     70 
may. 
Gads.  What  talkest  thou  to  me  of  the  hangman?  if 
I  hang,  I  '11  make  a  fat  pair  of  gallows;   for  if 

52 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  II.  Sc.  i. 

I  hang,  old  Sir]V)hn  hang^s  with  me,  and  thou  'J^  u^^^**-** 

otherlro]  aji^inat  thou  dream^tnot  of,  the  ^"^^p^ 
which    for    sport   sake   are   content   to    do   the  ^,  J^^^^ 
profession  some  grace;   that  would,  if  matters   M  ^Ijuao'^ 
^  should  be  looked  into,  for  their  own  credit  sake,    r,       ix>Sli/^ 

V/Uteu.  i^ake  all  whole.  1  am  joined  with  no  foffllM^^^^  ^2c4 
tSu>  ^  r^akers.  noTong-stafif  sixpenny  strikers,  none  of  ^xcy^Ji 
Gju^^xy  ^.  these^ad  mustachio  purple^hued  maltAvonns  :  -^ 

<v>j2a. /iigjU  but^ith  nobility  ancro-anquillity,  burgo-masters  ^     . 

>ggj^(iDLa   ancrgre^  oneyers.  such  as  carrholdjn,  such  as  ^ya  /-/ 

{LT^jnL^   will  strike  sooner  than  speak,  and  speak  sooner  ^**<-^^^^-^>^--^ 
^^v^    than  drink,  and  drink  sooner  than  pray :  and  yet, 
tUUOcvUJ      'zounds,  I  lie;   for  they  pray  continually  to  their 
f^so^UXi^S^  saint,  the  commonwealth;   or  rather,  not  pray  to 
her,  but  prey  on  her,  for  they 
on  her  and  make  her  their  boots'. 
T         ChQm.  What,  the  commonwealth  their  boots?. will         /i-^*Ji^LU< 

-YT,    •'she  hold  out  water  in  foul  way?       ^        ^    , /r  J 

£        Gads.  She  will,  she  will;   justice  hath  liquored  her.      /  / 

)        ,       ^  We  steal  as  in  a  castle,  cock-sure;   we  have  the 
^    receipt  of  fern-seed,  we  walk  invisible. 
C//a;M^  Nay,  by  my  faith,  I  think  you  are  more  be- 


;v  j-ide  up  and  down  \)'l 


^"^  "Voiding  to  the  night  than  to  fern-seed  for  your 
f^     oO    walking  invisible. 

^(s^    Gads.  Give  m.e  thv-hand^  thou  shalt  have  a  share  in 
'^'^^:6ipUT  i^f^-s^<#i^ifra  true  man.  lOO 

^        Cham.  Nay,  rather  let  me  have  it,  as  you  are  a  false 

thief.        x^  ^  ^^ 

Gads.  Go  toV-^homo  '  is   a  common  nam^_tQ__all   ^^^^(^'^^ 
men.     Bid  the  ostler  bring  my  gelding  out  of     j^-^^^ 
the  stable.     Farewell,  yoii  m^dSy\nav^      \Exeuntr^*^-^ 


Act  II.  Sc.  ii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 


Scene  II.  t^^^^ 


s^' 


The  Highzvay,  near  Gmsnill.  ^_  ^. 

Enter  Prince  Henry  cLnd  Poins. 

Poins.  ComeTsnelter,  sheJerT  I  have  removed  Fal- 
staff's  horse,  and  he  frets  Hke  a  gummed  velvet.. 
Prince,  Stand  close.         '^^M^  y^J^^J^^u^^^ 

^  '^^^     '  Enter  Falstaif.  (1^ 

\        1^  •  \J 

^**'^'*'*^jFa/.  Poins!  Poins,  and  be  hanged!   Poins! 

Prince.  Peace,  ye  fat-kidneyed  rascal !  what  a  brawl- 
ing dost  thou  keep! 
^'       Fal  Where  's  Poins,  Hal? 

m  ^      Prince.  He  is  walked  up  to  the  top  of  the  hill ;    I  '11 
I  go  seek  him. 

L  Eal.  I  am  accursed  to  rob  in  that  thief's  company:     lo 

1^  the  rascal  hath  removed  my  horse,  and  tied  him 

.  I  know  not  where.     If  I  travel  but  four  foot  by 

Xn5qcwX      the  s§^l^**iurther  afoot,  I  shall  break  my  wind, 
r-y  ^         Well,  I  doubt  not  but  to  die  a  fair  death  for  all 
,    this,  if  I  'scape  hanging  for  killing  that  rogue. 
^iiLA>^^ift>I  have  forsworn  his  company  hourly  any  time 
ftdCicg>\sa>U2  this  two  and  twenty  years,  and  yet  I   am  be- 
witched with  the  rogue's  company.     If  the  ras- 
.QyuuilLu^    cal  have  not  given  md^ediciri£S  to  make  me 
(jzxjyCu,^;^-    ^^^^  ^y^,  I  '11  be  hanged;  it  could  not  be  else;  I     20 
n  ,  p  '  have  drunk  medicines.     Poins!    Hal!    a  plague 

■^  /     ,    ^       upon  you  both  !  Bardolph !   Peto !  I  '11  starve  ere 
^ ^US^^tid^^^   I  '11  rob  a  foot  further.     An  'twere  not  as  good 
a  deed  as  drink,  to  turn  true  man  and  to  leave 
these  rogues,  I  am  the  veriest  varlet  that  ever 
chewed  with  a  tooth.     Eight  yards  of  uneven 

54 


far  afoot  again  for  all  the  coin  in  thv,  father's  ex- 
chequer.  What  a  plague  mean  ye  to"^nme  thus  ? 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  II.  Sc.  ii. 

ground  is  threescore  and  ten  miles  afoot  with 

me;   and  the  stony-hearted  villains  know  it  well      ' 

enough :    a  plague  upon  it  when  thieves  cannot   CuiO-^j<i*<^ 

be  true  one  to  another.    [They  whistle.]     Whew!     30    >^ 

A  plague  upon  you  all!     Give  me  my  horse,  you        ;    -  U  '*. 

rogues;   give  me  my  horse,  and  be  hanged!  '^        H 

Prince.  Peace,  ye  fat-guts!  lie  down;  lay  thine  ear 
close  to  the  ground  and  list  if  thou  canst  hear 
tli£  tread  of  travellers. 

/^fl/.j[Have  you  any  levers  to  lift  me  up  again,  being 
dowiT^  'Sblood,  I  '11  not  bear  mine  own  flesh  so 

'  ~^' — ^"^"i^fr"- 

Prince.  Thou   liest;   thou   art   not   colted,  thou   art     40 
uncolted. 

Pal.  I  prithee,  good  prince  Hal,  help  me  to  my  horse, 
good  king's  son. 

Prince.  Out,  ye  rogue !   shall  I  be  your  ostler  ? 

Pal.  Go   hang   thyself   in   thine  /g^Yn   heir-apparent  ^  OJ^u^o-^ 
barters  !     If  I  be  ta'en,  I  '11  ]^^^}o/?Ris^     An    (^  ShcxQejr^<r^ 
I  ha\ie  not  ballads  made  on  you  all  and  sung  to   cinxJfQjt^ 
filthy  tunes,  let  a  cup  of  sack  be  my  poison  :  when  /v 
a  jest  is  so  forward,  and  afoot  too  !   I  hate  it.      '^n  ^^'^M^^ 

Enter  Gadshill,  Bardolph  and  Peto  with  ^^"^-H^j;^^^^'^ 
Gads.  Stand.  /   50^^*^ 

Pal.  So  I  do,  agai^^^n^^^^j^^^^^^eiZc. 

Poins.  O,  'tis  our  sftter:  Iknow  his  voice.  Bar- 
dolph, what  news?       ,    .  .    .  ^.-  -^.^i^ 

Bard.  Case  ye, '"casjjje ;  /  on  with  your  vizards: 
there 's  money  of  the  king's  coming  down  the 
hill;  'tis  going  to  the  king's  exchequer. 

55 


Act  II.  Sc.  ii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Fal  You  lie,  ye  rogue;  'tis  going  to  the  king's 
tavern. 

Gads.  There  's  enough  to  make  us  all. 

Fal  To  be  hanged.  ^^,Jj,_^  60 

Prince.  Sirs,  you  four  shall  iiwt  them  in  the  narrow 
lane ;  Ned  Poins  and  I  will  waljc  I6wer :  if  they 
'scape  from  your  encounter  then  they  light  on 
us. 

Pcto.  How  many  be  there  of  them? 

Gads.  Some  eight  or  ten. 

Fal.  'Zounds,  will  they  not  rob  us? 

Prince.  What,  a  coward,  Sir  John  Paunch? 

Fal.  Indeed,  I  am  not  John  of  Gaunt,  your  grand- 
father ;   but  yet  no  coward,  Hal.  yo 

Prince.  Well,  we  leave  that  to  the  proof. 

Poins.  Sirrah  Jack,  thy  horse  stands  behind  the 
hedge :  when  thou  needest  him,  there  thou  shalt 
find  him.    Farewell,  and  stand  fast. 

Fal.  Now  cannot  I  strike  him,  if  I  should  be  hanged. 

Prince.  Ned,  where  are  our  disguises  ? 

Poins.  Here,  hard  by :   stand  close. 

^  [Exeunt  Prince  and  Poins. 

Fal.  Now,  my  masters^  happy  man  be  his  dole,  say 
y(^^^^^^^  ^      I :   every  man  to  his  business. 

^f^^Jkdt^' £^(/UUiA^r<JU  '        Enter  the  Travellers. 

First  Trav.  Come,  neighbour :  the  boy  shall  lead  our     80 
horses  down  the  hill ;   we  '11  walk  afoot  awhile, 
and  ease  our  legs. 

Thieves.  Stand! 

Travellers.  Jesus  bless  us ! 

FaL  Strike;    down    with    them;    cut    the    villains' 

56 


KING  HENRY  IV.  .     .    Act  11.  Sc.  ii. 

throats :    ah !    whoreson  caterpillars !    bacon-fed   ^      ^   ^ 
knaves'    they  hate  us  youth:'  clown  with  them;    ^-UiJrJUJ 

Travellers.  O,  we  are  undone,  both  we  and  ours  for 

Fal.  Hang  ye,  RorT)^v^5i  knaves,  are  ye  undone? 
No,  ye  fatOTuns ;  "T  woutd  your  store  were 
here !  On,  bacons,  on !  What,  ye  knaves ! 
young  men  must  live.  You  are  grand  jurors,  are 
ye?   we  '11  jure  ye,  'faith. 

\Here  they  rob  them  and  hind  them.     Exeunt. 

Re-enter  Prince  Henry  and  Poins  disguised. 

Prince.  The  thieves  have  bound  the  true  men.    Now  ^ 

could  thou  and  I  rob  the  thieves  and  go  merrily  y  JMj2y'<^ ^ -^ 
to  London,  it  would  be  argument  for  a  week,  (2^twhiA-^in^f 
laughter  for  a  month  and  a  good  jest  for  ever.  -■-.4- 

Poins.  Stand  close;   I  hear  them  coming.  loo 

Enter  the  Thiez'es  again. 

Pal.  Come,  my  masters,  let  us  share,  and  then  to 
horse  before  day.     An  the  Prince  and  Poins  hep'   . 
not  two  arrant  cowards,  there  's  ncu-^^myi.st'ii^^^'^'^^^^^'^-^ 
ring :  there  's  no  more  valour  in  that  Poins  than 
in  a  wild-duck. 
Prince.  Your  money ! 
Poins.  Villains! 

[As  they  are  sharing,  the  Prince  and  Poins 
set  upon  them;   they  all  run  azvay ;   and 
Falstaif,  after  a  blow  or  two,  runs  away 
too,  leaving  the  booty  behind  them.] 
Prince.  Got  with  much  ease.  Now  merrily  to  horse: 

57 


Act  II.  Sc.  iii. 


THE  FIRST  PART  OF 


The  thieves  are  all  scatter'd  and  possess'd  with  fear 
So  strongly  that  th^y  xlare  not  meet  each  other;    no 
Each  takes  his  fei^^ToranOTio^n 
Away,  good  Ned.  /Talstaff  sweats  to  death.     /     _      - 
And  lards  the  lean  earth  as  he  walks  alon^j/  A  ^  t>^^ 
Were  't  not  for  laughing,  I  should  pity  him. 
Poins.  How  the  rogue  roar'd!  [Exeunt. 


Scene  III. 


Warkworth  Castle. 

Enter  Hotspur  solus,  reading  a  letter. 

Hot.  '  But  for  mine  own  part,  my  lord,  I  could  be 

yell  contented  to  be  there,  in  respect  of  the  love 

bear  your  house/     He  could  be  contented : 

>  -,     .     why  is  he  not,  then?    In  respect  of  the  love  he 

fcn»A*xw»*'^*'-' bears  our  house:  he  shows  in  this,  he  loves  his 
own  barn  better  than  he  loves  our  house.  Let 
me  see  some  more.  '  The  purpose  you  undertake 
is  dangerous  ; ' — why,  that 's  certain  :  'tis  danger- 
ous to  take  a  cold,  to  sleep,  to  drink ;  but  I  tell 
you,  my  lord  fool,  out  of  this  nettle,  danger,  we 
pluck  this  flower,  safety.  '  The  purpose  you 
undertake  is  dangerous  ;  the  friend^  \^u.  have 
named  uncertain  ;  the  time  itself  unsor^^TaiTd 
your  whole  plot  too  light  for  the  counterpoise  of 
so  great  an  opposition.'  Say  you  so.  say  ygu  so^ 
rl  say  unto  you  again,  you  area  snalfow^co\\^m[^ 

^juuLidtu    ^^^Timd,^  and  you  lie.     What  a-dack-brain  is  this ! 

^^IgjQ  By  the  Lord,  our  plot  is  a  good  plot  as  ever  was 

Q       —       laid  ;  our  friends  true  and  constant :  a  good  plot, 

^'^^  good  friends,  and  full  of  ^^ecfauon  ;   an  excel- 

58 


KA- 


lo 


20 


»-«L. 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  II.  Sc.  iii. 

lent  plot,  very  good  friends.  What  a  frosty- 
spirited  rogue  is  this!  Why,  my  lord  of  York 
commends  the  plot  and  the  general  course  of  the 
action.  'Zounds,  an  I  were  now  by  this  rascal, 
I  could  brain  him  with  his  lady's  fan.  Is  there 
not  my  father,  my  uncle,  and  myself?  lord 
Edmund  Mortimer,  my  lord  of  York,  and  Owen 
Glendower?  is  there  not  besides  the  Douglas? 
have  I  not  all  their  letters  to  meet  me  in  arms  by 
the  ninth  of  the  next  month?  and  are  they  not  30 
some  of  them  set  forward  already?  Whaf  a 
pagan  rascal  is  this!  an  infidel!  Ha!  you  sliall 
see  now  in  very  sincerity  of  fear  and  cold  iieart, 
will  he  to  the  king,  and  lay  open  all  our  proceed-*  /^3 
ings.  O,  I  could  divide  myself,  and  ^.^felDuf-" 
fets^  for  moving  such  a  dish  of  skim  mi4k  w4th  so 
honourable  an  action!  Hang  him!  let  him  tell 
the  king:  we  are  prepared.  I  will  set  forward 
to-night.  A 

Enter  Lady  Percy.  vjuN-ejB  ^  ^Si»oct«i«-^'>""\^ 

How  now,  Kate !   I  must  leave  you  within  these  two 
hours. 
Lady.  O,  my  good  lord,  why  are  you  thus  alone?  40 

For  what  oflfence  have  I  this  fortnight  been 
A  banish'd  woman  from  my  Harry's  bed? 
Tell  me,  swe.ellord,  what  is  't  that  takes  from  thee 
Thy  F^Tiacfi,  pleasure,  and  thy  golden  sleep? 
Why  dost  thou  bend  thine  eyes  upon  the  earth, 
And  start  so  often  when  thou  sit'st  alone? 
Why  hast  thou  lost  the  fresh  blood  in  thy  cheeks, 
And  given  my  treasures  and  my  rights  of  thee 


JbJJl 


Act  II.  Sc.  Hi.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

To  tmck-ey^dmusing  and  cursed  melancholy? 
In  thy  faint  slumbers  I  by  thee  have  watch'd,        50 
And  heard  thee  nuirmur  tales  of  iron  wars; 
Speak  terms  of  mai^ge'to  thy  bounding  steed; 
Cry  '  Courage!   to  the  field! '    And  thou  hast  talk'd 
Of  sallies  arid  "^n^'s*  ol  trenches,  tents, 


'Cju/HyKxfVu 


^t^Jiulfi^  l5asilisks.  of  cannon,  Jul  verm,  /         '^'^-^*^ 
(AC  c^/**"!*^  Q^  prisoners'  ransom,  and  of  soldiers  slain,  £^ 
^/ JU-  And  air  the  currents  of  a  heady  fighf:        ^^C&X5MiiiM 

I    A  Thy  spirit  within  thee  hath  been  so  at  war/HjjCiT.'i  -f^.p 

'(^W^^^^  And  thus  hath  so  t)estirr'd  thee  in  thy  sleep,  ^  60^ 
.^J;^  That  beads  of t^^t  Rtl^flm  G^  t§^f^^^ 
f  Like  bubblesln  a  late-disturbed  stream; 

r^^  And  in  thy  face  strange  motions  have  appear'd, 

(jjU^     Such  as  we  see  when  rneu  ^f^^J^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Mj   On  some  great  suddenjiesf:    Ij/wriat  portents  are 
^^^f^         these? 

Some  heavy  business  hath  my  lord  in  hand, 
And  I  must  know  it,  else  he  loves  me  not. 
Hot.  What,  ho! 

y  Is^illiams  with  the  packet  gone? 

Sew.  He  is,  my  lord,  an  hour  ago.  69 

Hot.  Hath  Butler  brought  those  horses  from  the  sherifif? 
Serv.  One  horse,  my  lord,  h^  brought  even  now. 
^     kHot.  What  horse?  aj;oan,  a  crop-earTisirnot? 
uMfs^  Serv.  It  is,  my  lord. 
(jj  fiXJuIyHot.  /i/^]j^^^^^  shall  bemy  throne. 


%s 


k  -  jj^^tL       Well,  I  will  ba^nim  straight  :*^0  esperanceL 

^^  ^'^^^^  Bid  Butler  lead  him  forth  into  the  park. 

'U'  [Exit  Servant, 

60 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  II.  Sc.  iii. 

Lady.  But  hear  you,  my  lord. 
Hot.  Wliat  say'st  thou,  my  lady? 
Lady.  What  is  it  carries  you  away  ? 
Hot.  Why,  my  horse,  my  love,  my  horse. 

Lady.  Out,  you  mad-headed  ape!       uj€UJ ^^ruJAdU^^ 
A  weasel  hath  not  such  a  deal  of  s^le^ 
As  you  are  toss'd  with.     In  laith, 
I  '11  know  your  business,  Harry,  that  I  will. 
I  fear  my  brother  Mortimer  doth  stir 
About  hisUtle,  and  hath  sent  for  you 
T  oimems  erne  r  p  r  i  z  e  :  but  if  you  go — 

Hot.  So  far  afoot,  I  shall  be  \y£ary,  love.    /.  Of) 

Lady.  Come,  come,  you  2araquifo.  answer  me       / 
Directly  unto  this  question  that  I  ask : 
In  faith,  I  '11  break  thy  little  finger,  Harry,  90 

An  if' thou  wilt  not  tell  me  all  things  true. 

Hoi.  Away, 

Away,  you  trifler !     Love !     I  love  thee  not, 
I  care  not  for  thee,  Kate  :  this  is  no  world 
To  play  with  ^^(Ms  and  to  tilt  with  lips : 
We  must  have  bloody  noses  and  crack'd  crowns. 
And  pass  them  current  too.     God  's  me,  my  horse ! 
What  say'st  thou,   Kate?    wjiat.  wouldst  thou  have 
with  me? 

Lady.  Do  you  not  love  me  ?   do  you  not,  indeed  ? 

Well,  do  not  then  ;   for  since  you  love  me  not,        100 
I  will  not  love  myself.     Do  you  not  love  me? 
Nay,  tell  me  if  you  speak  in  jest  or  no. 

Hot,  Come,  wilt  thou  see  me  ride  ? 

And  when  I  am  o'  horseback,  I  will  swear 
I  love  thee  infinitely.     But  hark  you,  Kate; 
I  must  not  have  you  henceforth  question  me 

61 


Act  II.  Sc.  iv.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Whither  I  go,  nor  reason  whereabout : 

Whither  I  must,  I  must :    and,  to  conclude, 

This  evening  must  I  leave  you,  gentle  Kate. 

I  know  you  wise,  but  yet  no  farther  wise  no 

Than  Harry  Percy's  wife :    constant  you  are. 

But  yet  a  woman  :  and  for  secrecy. 

No  lady  closer ;   for  I  well  believe 

Thou  wilt  not  utter  what  thou  dost  not  know ; 

And  so  far  will  I  trust  thee,  gentle  Kate. 

Lady.  How!   so  far? 

Hot,  Not  an  inch  further.     But  hark  you,  Kate: 
Whither  I  go,  thither  shall  you  go  too ; 
To-day  will  I  set  forth,  to-morrow  you. 
Will  this  content  you,  Kate  ? 

Lady,  It  must  of  force.      [Exeunt.     120 


A.CeA<A- 


o^jd^aSi:£ju  <^juSa^     Scene  IV.  \iA'^&o>:> 

^•^s^^--*^^--^  *"^^^  Eastcheap. 

"^^^^flA  ^^^^'        Enicr'thc  Prince,  and  Poins, 
*'*^^^i'?mc?^  Njed,^prithee,  come  out  of  that  fat  room,  and 
jh(.L.>        N  lend  m^nffiy  harm  to  laugh  a  little. 

.         Poins.  Where  hast  been,  Hal?   n^     r,  Q        n 
SOUU'    Prince.  With    three    or    four   log^mieaasainohgst 
Q       three  or  fourscore  hogsheads.     I  have  sounded 
/(  ^^^  very  base-string  of  hmnility.     Sirrah,  I  am 

n  sworn  brother  to  a  laa^^^ToraA^ers  ;  and  can  call 

^^JU^Mj^    them  all  by  their  cnns^'^najmes,  as  Tom,  Di,ck^^^^g^^^ 
"       ^,       A  and  Francis.     They^^a^eitalready  i^^n^^eir"^^^ 
>^*^MUkC^ Salvation,  that  though  I  be  but  Prince  of  Wales,     10 
-    .  4  yenram  the  king  of  courtesy  ;   and  tell  me  flatly 

^j/  I  am  no  proud  Jack,  like  Falstaff,  but  a  Corin- 


t^)^ 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  II.  Sc.  iv. 

thian,  a  lad  of  mettle,  a  good  boy,  by  the  Lord, 
so  they  call  me,  and  when  I  am  king  of  England, 
I  shall  command  all  the  good  lads  in  Eastcheap. 

^c^rlet ;    ^.n^C^^eUaAU^ 

elude,  I  am  so  good  a  proficient  in  on^J;^^r^  ,^^ 
of  an  hour,  that  I  can  drmk  with  any  tmRer     2a^^      T 
in  his  own  language  during  my  life.     I  tell  thee,        ^tcuiifu 
Ned,  thou  hast  lost  much  honour,  that  thou  wert 
not  with  me  in  this  action.     But,  sweet  Ned, — 
to  sweeten  which  name  of  Ned,  I  give  thee  this 
pennyworth  of  sugar,  clapped  even  now  into  my 
hand  by  an  tM9^%Kmi?fer7%ie  that  never  spake 
other  English  in  his  life  than  '  Eight  shillings 
and  sixpence,'  and  '  You  are  welcome,'  with  this  CD  ^^^-^^^^^ 
/^UcHlnf   shrill  addition,  '  Anon,  anon,  sir !    Score  a  pint  ^^^^*  ^^*' 
fUiuU^-    of'^astard  in  th^Halfjrioon,'  or  so.     But,  Ned,     30 
'/}CcuP       to   drive  away   the   time   till   Falstafif   come,    I 
prithee,  do  thou  stand  in  some  by-room,  while 
I  question  my  puny  drawer  to  what  end  he  gave 
me  the  sugar ;    and  do  thou  never  leave  calling 
'  Francis,'  that  his  tale  to  me  may  be  nothing 
but  '  Anon.'     Step  aside,  and  I  '11  show  thee  a 
preceae^T'^ 

Poins.  Francis ! 

Prince.  Thou  art  perfect. 

Poins.  Francis!  '/.^  [Exit  Poins,     40 

Enter  Francis.  ^  rr 

Fran.  Anon,  anon,  sir.     Look  down  into  the  Pom-y  {ju^xjuLot  <^ 
garnet,  Ralph.  JL^ocx^  ui.  (&uu 

63  dauOtjioUL' 


LI  as  mucn  as  lo —   / "      •  ' 


.     Act  II.  Sc.  iy.  .         -jp   THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Prince.  Come  hither,  Francis.  flL'ci*;.^  n 

Fran.  My  lord?  ^' Pcmf^^  (M  Ci^ 

Prince.  How  long  hast  thou  to  serve,  Fmncisr 

Fran.  Forsooth,  five  years,  and  as  much  as  to —   jlM^^^n-iT^^ 

Poins.    [With'ui^    Francis! 

Fran.  Anon,  anon,  sir. 

Prince.  Five  year !    by  'r  lady,  a  long  lease  for  the 

clinking  of  pewter.     But,  Francis,  darest  thou     50 
be  so  valiant  as  to  play  the  coward  with  thy  in- 
denture and  show  it  a  fair  pair  of  heels  ancf  run 
from  it?  /y)   *^ /r:i  .ZA-if\-^JS  . 

Fran.  O  Lord,  sir,  I  '11  be  sworn  upon  all  the  books 

in  England,  I  could  find  in  mv  heart.  J^i^Cu^^JUi^jT^. 

Po-uu.   WMnn\   Francis!  '^^^  WjjUp.'oJuIo 

Fran.  Anon,  sir.  /  1 

Prince.  How  old  art  thou,  Francis  ? 

Fran.  Let  me  see — about   Alichaelmas  next  I   shall 

be —  60 

Poins.    [Within]   Francis! 

Fran.  Anon,  sir.     Pray  stay  a  little,  my  lord. 

Prince.  Nay,  but  hark  you,  Francis:  for  the  sugar 
thou  gavest  me,  'twas  a  pennyworth,  was 't 
not? 

Fran.  O  Lord,  I  would  it  had  been  two ! 

Prince.  I  will  give  thee  for  it  a  thousand  pound: 
ask  me  w^hen  thou  wilt,  and  thou  shalt  have 
it. 

Poins.    [Within']   Francis!  70 

Fran.  Anon,  anon. 

Prince.  Anon,  Francis  ?  No,  Francis ;  but  to-mor- 
row, Francis ;  or  Francis,  o'  Thursday ;  or  in- 
deed, Francis,  wheif"'tNou  wilt.     But,   Francis! 


-4^  AuUr»it€A^  kj,^ijjuuL>^:cSfJi<^t^ 


OY. 


KING  HENRY  IV.  ^  ^       Act  II.  Sc.  ivyn 

Fran.  My  lord?  J^V^^^^e^L, 

Prince.  Wilt  thou  rob  thi^leathern  jerkm,  crystal-  njl^^^^ 


btuSCn^oo^ 


Prince.  Why,  then,  your  brown  bastard  is  your  only     80 

drink;   for  look  you,  Francis,  your  white  canvas  (j^cj^^XfJ^ 
doublet  will  sully:    in   Barbary,   sir,   it  cannot    (i^2A^cfic£jS • 
come  to  so  much.  >7 

Fran.  What,  sir?  AT^fi^u^ 

Poins.   [Within]   Francis! 

Prince.  Away,  you  rogue!   dost  thou  not  hear  them 

call?        [Here  they  both  call  him;  the  drawer  stands 
amazed,  not  knozving  which  way  to  go. 

Enter  Vintner. 

Vint.  What,  standest  thou  still,  and  hearest  such  a 
calling?     Look    to    the    guests    within.      [Exit 
Francis.]     My   lord,   old   Sir  John,   with  half-     90 
a-dozen  more,  are  at  the  door :    shall  I  let  them 
in? 

Prince.  Let  them  alone  awhile,  and  then  open  the 
door.     [Exit  Vintner.]      Poins! 

Re-enter  Poins. 

Poins.  Anon,  anon,  sir. 

Prince.  Sirrah,  Falstafl  and  the  rest  of  the  thieves 
are  at  the  door :  shall  we  be  merry  ? 

Poins.  As  merry  as  crickets,  my  lad.  But  hark  ye ; 
what  cunning  match  have  you  made  with  this 
jest  of  the  drawer?    come, ^what's  the  issue?       100 

Prince.  I  am  now  of  all  numofirs  that  have  showed 

65 


Act  II.  Sc.  iv.  THE  FIRST  PART  QF 

themselves  humours  since  the  old  days  ol  good-  *' 
man  Adam  to  the  pupil  age  of  this  present  twelve 
o'clock  at  midnight. 

Re-enter  Francis, 

What 's  o'clock,  Francis  ? 
Fran.  Anon,  anon,  sir.  [Exit. 

Prince.  That   ever   this    fellow    should   have    fewer 
words   than   a   parrot,    and   yet   the   son    of    a 
woman!     His  industry  is  up-stairs  and  down- 
stairs;  his  eloquence  the  pTrceT  of  a  reckoning,   no 
I  am  not  yet  of  Percy's  mind,  the  Hotspur  of 
the  north ;    he  that  kills  me  some  six  or  seven 
dozen  of  Scots  at  a  breakfast,  washes  his  hands, 
and  says  to  his  wife  '  Fie  upon  this  quiet  life ! 
I  want  work.'     '  O  my  sweet  Harry,'  says  she, 
•  /         '  how  many  hast  thou   killed   to-day  ?  '     '  Give 
nxxx^Af^U/xf-  j^y  X02M  horse  a  drench,'  says  he;   and  answers 
^OUXjUb  *f         '  Some   fourteen,'   an   hour   after ;    '  a   trifle,   a 
^  trifle.'     I   prithee,    call    in    Falstaff :     I  '11    play 

^^  Percy,  and  that  damned  '^f^wV'^hall  play  Dame  120 

Mortimer  his  wife.   ^  Rivo ! '  says  the  drunkard. 
Call  in  ribs,  call  in  tallow.  ^ 

Enter  Falstaff,  Gadshilu,  Baraolph,  and  Peto; 
Francis  following  with  wine. 

Poins.  Welcome,  Jack :   where  hast  thou  been  ? 

Fal.  A  plague  of  all  cowards,  I  say,  and  a  vengeance 

too !  marry,  and  amen  !     Give  me  a  cup  of  sack, 

boy.     Ere  I  lead  this  life  long,  I  '11  sew  t^ef 

stocks  and  mend  them  and  foot  them  too.     A 

66 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  II.  Sc.  iv. 

plague  of  all  cowards 'Give  me  a  cup  of  sack, 
rogue.     Is  there  no  virtue  extant?  [He  drinks. 

Prince.     Didst  thou  never  see  Tita^   kiss  a  dish  of   130 
butter?  pitiful-hearted  Titan,  that  melted  at  the 
sweet  tale  of  the  sun's!    if  thou  didst,  then  be- 
hold that  compound. 

Fal.  You  rogue,  here  's  lime  in  this  sack  too :  there 
is  nothing  but  roguery  to  be  found  in  villanous 
man :  yet  a  coward  is  worse  than  a  cup  of  sack 
with  lime  in  it.  A  villanous  coward!  Go  thy 
ways,  old  Jack;  die  when  thou  wilt,  if  manhood,  /] 

good  manhood,  be  not  forgot  upon  the  face  of  u)'^^^-S'>c^>cju 
the  earth,  then  am  I  ^hotten  hertjingf.     There  I40^x3l^<^ 
lives  not  three  good  men  unhanged  in  England;   ^ec^c£o(Jr^ 
and  one  of  them  is  fat,  and  grows  old:    God 
help  the  while!    a  bad  world,  I  say.     I  would 
I  were  a  weaver;    I  could  sing  psalms  or  any 
thing.    A  plague  of  all  cowards,  I  say  still. 

Prince.  How  now,  wool-sack?  what  mutter  you? 

Fal.  A  king's  son!     If  I  do  not  beat  thee  out  of 
thy  kingdom  with  a  dagger  of  lath,  and  drive  all 
thy  subjects  afore  thee  like  a  flock  of  wild-geese, 
I'll  never  wear  hair  on  my  face  more.     You  150 
Prince  of  Wales! 

Prince.  Why,  you  whoreson  round  man,  what 's  the 
matter? 

Fal.  Are  you  not  a  coward?  answer  me  to  that:  and 
Poins  there? 

Poins.  'Zounds,  ye  fat  paunch,  an  ye  call  me  coward, 
by  the  Lord,  I  '11  stab  thee. 

Pal.  I  call  thee  coward!  I  '11  see  thee  damned  ere  I 
call  thee  coward:   but  I  would  give  a  thousand 

^7 


Act  II.  Sc.  iv.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

pound  I  could  run  as  fast  as  thou  canst.  You  i6o 
are  straight  enough  in  the  shoulders,  you  care 
not  who  sees  your  back:  call  you  that  backing 
of  your  friends?  A  plague  upon  such  backing! 
give  me  them  that  will  face  me.  Give  me  a  cup 
of  sack:   I  am  a  rogue,  if  I  drunk  to-day. 

Prince.  O  villain!    thy  lips  are  scarce  wiped  since 
thou  drunkest  last. 

Fal.  All 's  one  for  that.     [He  drinks.]     A  plague  of 
all  cowards,  still  say  I. 

Prince.  What 's  the  matter?  170 

Fal.  What's  the  matter?    there  be  four  of  us  here 
have  ta'en  a  thousand  pound  this  day  morning. 

Prince.  Where  is  it.  Jack?  where  is  it? 

Fal.  Where  is  it!    taken  from  us  it  is:    a  hundred 
upon  poor  four  of  us. 

Prince.  What,  a  hundred,  man? 

Fal.  I  am  a  rogue,  if  I  were  not  at  half-swofd  with 
a  dozen  of  them  two  hours  together.  I  have 
'scaped  by  miracle.  I  am  eight  times  thrust 
through  the  doublet,  four  through  the  hose;  my  180 
buckler  cut  through  and  thcgugh-  ruy  sword 
hacked  like  a  hand-saw^^^^^^^^^g^uro^  I  never 
dealt  better  since  I  was  a  man:  all  would  not 
do.  A  plague  of  all  cowards!  Let  them  speak: 
if  they  speak  more  or  less  than  truth,  they 
are  villains  and  the  sons  of  darkness. 

Prince.  Speak,  sirs;   how  was  it? 

Gads.  We  four  set  upon  some  dozen — 

Fal.  Sixteen  at  least,  my  lord. 

Gads.  And  bound  them.  190 

Peto.  No,  no,  they  were  not  bound. 

68 


half-sword  wit 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  II.  Sc.  iv. 

Fal.  You  rogue,  they  were  bound,  every  man  of 
them ;   or  I  am  a  Jew  else,  an  Ebrew  Jew. 

Gads.  As  we  were  sharing,  some  six  or  seven  fresh 
men  set  upon  us — 

Fal.  And  unbound  the  rest,  and  then  come  in  the 
other. 

Prince.  What,  fought  you  with  them  all? 

Fal.  All!    I  know  not  what  you  call  all;    but  if  I 

fought  not  with  fifty  of  them,  I  am  a  bunch  of  200 
radish :   if  there  were  not  two  or  three  and  fifty 
upon  poor  old  Jack,  then  am  I  no  two-legged 
creature. 

Prince.  Pray  God  you  have  not  murdered  some  of 
them. 

Fal.  Nay,  that 's  past  praying  for :  I  have  peppered 
two  of  them ;  two  I  am  sure  I  have  paid,  two 
rogues  in  buckram  suits.  I  tell  thee  what,  Hal, 
if  I  tell  thee  a  lie,  spit  injny  fac^,  call  me  horse^ 
Thou  knowest  my  old^at^T^n^ellav.  Ifnami^ 
I  bore  my  point.  Four  rogues  in  budkram  let  210 
drive  at  me — 

Itrince.  What,  four?   thou  saidst  but  two  even  now. 

FuL  Four,  Hal ;   I  told  thee  four. 

Poins,  Ay,  ay,  he  said  four. 

Fal.  These  four  came  all  a-front,  and  mainly  thrust 
at  me.  I  made  me  no  rno^  .ad^but  took  all 
their  seven  points  in  my  targ^,  inus. 

Prince,  Seven?  why,  there  were  but  four  even  now. 

Fal.  In  buckram  ? 

Poins.  Ay,  four,  in  buckram  suits.  220 

Fal.  Seven,  by  these  hilts,  or  I  am  a  villain  else. 

Prince.  Prithee,  let  him  alone;  we  shall  have  more 
anon. 

69 


Act  II.  Sc.  iv.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

FaL  Dost  thou  hear  me,  Hal  ? 

Prince.  Ay,  and  mark  thee  too,  Jack. 

Fal.  Do  so,  for  it  is  worth  the  Ustening  to.     These 

nine  in  buckram  that  I  told  thee  of, — 
Prince.  So,  two  more  already. 
Fal.  Their  points  being  broken, — 

Poins.  Down  fell  their  hose.  230 

Fal.  Began  to  give  me  ground :    but  I  followed  me 
close,  came  in  foot  and  hand ;  and  with  a  thought 
seven  of  the  eleven  I  paid. 
Prince.  O  monstrous !    eleven  buckram  men  grown 

out  of  two ! 
Fal.  But,  as  the  devil  would  have  it,  three  misbe- 
,urD^^k(jt^    gotten  knaves  in^endal  green  came  at  my  back 
^^^zaiu&  and  let  drive  at  me  ;  for  it  was  so  dark,  Hal,  that 
^i^jUj^MjP     ^^^^^  couldst  not  see  thy  hand. 

^         Prince.  These  lies  are  like  their  father  that  begets  240 
fAJU^l^S&£L^th.^rn]     gross    as    a   mountain,    opep,    palpable. 
Why,  .thou  clay-brained  guts,  thou  knotty-pated 
fool,    thou    whoreson,    obscene,    greasy   tallmv- 

FaL  What,  art  thou  mad  ?  art  thou  mad  ?   is  not  the 

truth  the  truth? 
Prince.  Why,  how  couldst  thou  know  these  men  in 
Kendal  green,  when  it  was  so  dark  thou  couldst 
not  see  thy  hand  ?    come,  tell  us  your  reason : 
what  sayest  thou  to  this  ?  250 

Poins.  Come,  your  reason.  Jack,  your  reason. 
Fal,  W'hat  upon  compulsion  ?     'Zounds,  an  I  were 
te^^  pf        at  the^trappado.  or  ^11  the  racks  in  the  world,  I 
tt^  aujujuf.  would  not  tell  you  on  compulsion.     Give  you  a 
reason  on  compulsion !  if  reasims  were  as  plenti- 

70   fJ^UfJKJL^ 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  II.  Sc.  iv. 

ful  as  blackberries,  I  would  give  no  man  a  reason 
upon  compulsion,  I. 

Prince.  I  '11  be  no  longer  guilty  of  this  sin ;  this  san- 
guine coward,  this  bed-presser,  this  horse- back- 
breaker,  this  huge  hill  of  flesh, —  260 

Fal.   'Sblood,  you  starveling,  you  elf-skin,  you^dried^        n 
neat's  tongue,  you  bull's  pizzle,  you  stocK^-^mr  ^-^^ 
O  for  breath  to  utter  what  is  like  thee!    you 
tailor's-yard,  you  sheath,  you  bow-case,  you  vile 
standing-tuck^^>g-^gyC£^  ^^^^cu  ^2e<^ 

Prince.  Well,  breathe  a  while,  and  then  to  it  again  : 
and  when  thou  hast  tired  thyself  in  base  com- 
parisons, hear  me  speak  but  this. 

Poins.  Mark,  Jack. 

Prince.  We  two  saw  you  four  set  on  four  and  bound  270 
them,  and  were  masters  of  their  wealth.  Mark 
now,  how  a  plain  tale  shall  put  you  down.  Then 
dkl  we  Uvo  set  on  you  four ;  and,  with  a  word, 
^(u^na^eoyou  from  your  prize,  and  have  it ;  yea, 
and  can  show  it  you  here  in  the  house :  and, 
Falstafif,  you  carried  your  guts  away  as  nimbly, 
with  as  quick  dexterity,  and  roared  for  mercy, 
and  still  run  and  roared,  as  ever  I  heard  bull- 
calf.  What  a  slave  art  thou,  to  hack  thy  sword 
as  thou  hast  done,  and  then  say  it  was  in  fight'  280  , 
What  trick,  what  device,  whafstartmg^Hole. 
canst  thou  now  find  out  to  hide  thee  from  this 
open  and  apparent  shame  ? 

Poins.  Come,  let's  hear,  Jack;  what  trick  hast  thou 
now? 

Fal.  By  the  Lord,  T  knew  ye  as  well  as  he  that  made 
ye.     Why,  hear  you,  my  masters  :  was  it  for  me 

71 


Act  IL  Sc.  iv.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

to  kill  the  heir-apparent  ?  should  I  turn  upon  the 
true  prince  ?  why,  thou  knowest  I  am  as  valiant 
as  Hercules :  but  beware  instinct ;  the  lion  will  290 
not  touch  the  true  prince.  Instinct  is  a  great 
matter;  I  was  now  a  coward  on  instinct.  I 
shall  think  the  better  of  myself  and  thee  during 
my  life ;  I  for  a  valiant  lion,  and  thou  for  a  true 
prince.  But,  by  the  Lord,  lads,  I  am  glad  you 
have  the  money.  Hostess,  cUP'^fo  the  doors : 
watch  to-night,  pray  to-morrow.  Gallants,  lads, 
boys,  hearts  of  gold,  all  the  titles  of  good  fellow- 
ship come  to  you !  What,  shall  we  be  merry  ? 
shall  we  have  a  play  extempore  ?  300 

Prince.  Content ;  and  the  argument  shall  be  thy  run- 
ning away. 

Fal.  Ah,  no  more  of  that,  Hal,  an  thou  lovest  me ! 

Enter  Hostess. 

Host.  O  Jesu,  my  lord  the  prince ! 

Prince.  How  now,  my  lady  the  hostess !   what  sayest 

thou  to  me? 
Host.  Marry,  my  lord,  there  is  a  nobleman  of  the 
court  at  door  would  speak  with  you :    he  says 
he  comes  from  your  father.  / 

■       Prince.  Give  him  as  much  as  will  make  him  a  royal  310 
"^i^^ut^    man,  and  send  him  back  again  to  my  mother. 
'^^Fal  What  manner  of  man  is  he? 
Host.  An  old  man. 
Fal.  What  doth  gravity  out  of  his  bed  at  midnight? 

Shall  I  give  him  his  answer? 
Prince.  Prithee,  do,  Jack. 

Fal,  Faith,  and  I  '11  send  him  packing.  [Exit, 

72 


Y^ 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  II.  Sc.  iv. 

Prince.  Now,  sirs:    by  t  lady,  you  fought  fair;    so 
did  you,  Peto ;    so  did  you,  Bardolph:    you  are 
lions  too,  yqu  ran  away  upon  instinct,  you  will  320 
not  touch  the  true  prince ;   no,  fie ! 

Bard.  Faith,  I  ran  when  I  saw  others  run. 

Prince.  Faith,  tell  me  now  in  earnest,  how  came  Fal- 
staff's  sword  so  hacked? 

Peto.  Why,  he  hacked  it  with  his  dagger,  and  said  he 
would  swear  truth  out  of  England  but  he  would 
make  you  believe  it  was  done  in  fight,  and  per- 
suaded us  to  do  the  like. 

Bard.  Yea,  and  to  tickle  our  noses  with  spear-grass 

to  make  them  bleed,  and  then  to  beslubber  our  330 
garments  with  it  and  swear  it  was  the  blood  of 
true  men.     I  did  that  I  did  not  this  seven  year 
before,  I  blushed  to  hear  his  monstrous  devices. 

Prince.  O  villain,  thou  stoks^pof^ck^dshteeg^  ^{^^ 
years  ago,  and  wert  tal^ffl^mTlrTh_e_manner,  ancP^ 
ever  since  thou  hast  blushed  extempore.     Thou 
hadst  fire  and  sword  on  thy  side,  and  yet  thou 
rannest  away :   what  instinct  hadst  thou  for  it  ? 

Bard.  My  lord,  do  you  see  these  meteors?    do  you 

behold  these  exhalations  ?^t<x^/e«»>t^-'  340 

Prince.  I  do. 

Bard.  What  think  you  they  portend? 

Prince.  Hot  livers  and  cold  purses. 

Bard.  Choler,  my  lord,  if  rightly  taken. 

Prince.  No,  if  rightly  taken,  halter. 

Re-enter  Falstaff. 

Here  comes  lean  Jack,  here  comes  bare-bone. 
How  now,  mv  sweet  creature  of  bombast 


73      ^Jtji^(AJLajJL    ttSou^i<AjU 


Act  II.  Sc.  iv.  TH£  first  PART  OF 

How  long  is  't  ago,  Jack,  since  thou  sawest  thine 
own  knee? 

Fal,  My  own  knee !  when  I  was  about  thy  years,  350 
Hal,  I  was  not  an  eagle's  talon  in  the  waist;  I 
could  have  crept  into  any  alderman's  thumb- 
ring:  a  plague  of  sighing  and  grief!  it  blows 
a  man  up  like  a  bladder.  There 's  villanous 
news  abroad :  here  was  Sir  John  Bracy  from 
your  father ;  you  must  to  the  court  in  the  morn- 
ing. That  same  mad  fellow  of^the  north,  Percy, 
and  he  of  Wales,  that  gave  Ama'rnon  the  basti- 
nado, and  made  Lucifer  cuckold,  and  swore  the 
devil  his  true  liegeman  upon  the  cross  of  a  Welsh  360 
hook — what  a  plague  call  you  him  ? 

Poins.  O,  Glendower. 

Fal.  Owen,  Owen,  the  same ;  and  his  son-in-law 
Mortimer,  and  old  Northumberland,  and  that 
sprightly  Scot  of  Scots,  Douglas,  that  runs  o' 
horseback  up  a  hill  perpendicular, — 

Prince.  He  that  rides  at  high  speed  and  with  his 
pistol  kills  a  sparrow  flying. 

Fal.  You  have  hit  it. 

Prince.  So  did  he  never  the  sparrow.  370 

Fal.  Well,  that  rascal  hath  good  mettle  in  him;  he 
will  not  run. 

Prince.  Why,  what  a  rascal  art  thou  then,  to  praise 
him  so  for  running! 

Fal.  O'  horseback,  ye  cuckoo ;  but  afoot  he  will  not 
budge  a  foot. 

Prince.  Yes,  Jack,  upon  instinct. 

Fal.  I  grant  ye,  upon  instinct.  Well,  he  is  there  too, 
and  one   Mordake,   and  a  thousand   blue-^aps 

P^^'^JU.  i^T&i    ^^   J^4TZi^ 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  II.  Sc.  iv. 

more:   Worcester  is  stolen  away  to-night;    thy  380 
father's  beard  is  turned  white  with  the  news: 
you  may  buy  land  now  as  cheap  as  stinking 
mackerel. 

Prince.  Why,  then,  it  is  like,  if  there  come  a  hot 
June  and  this  civil  buffeting  hold,  we  shall  buy 
maidenheads  as  they  buy  hob-nails,  by  the 
hundreds. 

Fal.  By  the  mass,  lad,  thou  sayest  true;  it  is  like  we 
shall  have  good  trading  that  way.  But  tell  me, 
Hal,  art  not  thou  horrible  afeard?  thou  being  390 
heir-apparent,  could  the  world  pick  thee  out 
three  such  enemies  again  as  that  fiend  Douglas, 
that  spirit  Percy,  and  that  devil  Glendower? 
art  thou  not  horribly  afraid?  doth  not  thy 
blood  thrill  at  it? 

Prince.  Not  a  whit,  i'  faith;  I  lack  some  of  thy 
instinct. 

Pal.  Well,  thou  wilt  be  horribly  chid  to-morrow 
when  thou  comest  to  thy  father:  if  thou  love 
me,  practise  an  answer.  400 

Prince.  Do  thou  stand  for  my  father,  and  examine 
me  upon  the  particulars  of  ^Y  ^^jjr^    liitfMHMQ 

Pal.  Shall  I?  content:  this  cn^slmtlbe  my  state, 
this  dagger  my  sceptre,  and  this  cushion  my 

Prince.  Thy  state  is  takeri  for  a  joineti-stool,  tny       rj 

golden   sceptre   for   ^-^eaden   dagger,    and   thyO)  ^ixjaLtP^^ 
precious  rich  crown  for  a  pitiful  bald  crown!        A  u2ad^ 

Pal.  Well,  an  the  fire  of  grace  be  not  quite  out  of    -'^^^t^'^ 
thee,  now  shalt  thou  be  moved.    Give  me  a  cup  410 
of  sack  to  make  my  eyes  look  red,  that  it  may 

75 


ty 


Act  II.  Sc.  iv.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

b,e  thought  I  have  wept;    for  I  must  speak  in 
passion,  and  I  will  do  it  in  King  Cambyses'  vein. 

Prince.  Well,  here  is  my  leg.^^'^*'^^^*^^^ 

Fal.  And  here  is  my  speech.     Stand  aside,  nobility. 

Host.  O  Jesu,  this  is  excellent  sport,  i'  faith! 

Fal.  Weep  not,  sweet  queen^   for  trickling  tears  are 

Host,  ^/pe  father,  nowne  holds  his  countenance! 
Fal^-.  poT  God's  sake,  lords,  convey  my  tristlmqueen;  420 

.For  tears  do  stop  the  fiood-gates  of  her  evQ*.     n    a     nr 
Host.  O  Jesu,  he  doth  it  as  like  one  of  these  Mrlotry  '  '  / 

^.players  as  ever  I  see!  ^  77 

Fal.  Peace,  good  pint-pot;  peace,  good  tiCKle-Branx/^'^ 
>  Up t ,  AffjjHarry,  I  do  not  only  marvel  where  thou  spend- 
r — ' —     jest  thytime,but  also  how  thou  art  accompanied:  «, 

rCtc<  '  Ffor  though  the  camomile,  the  more  it  is  troddenlC5jLiJ'«0acu^ 
fyrfc^'  f  gn  the  faster  it  grows,  yet  youth,  the  more  itjsj"^  ^ockAs-uueA 

*«- j  wasted  the  sooner  it  wears.  TT^atThou  art  my 

^^jg^^  1  son,  I  have  partly  thy  mother's  word,  n^rtlv  my  430 

lown  opinion,  but  chiefly  a  villanot^s^iofofmine 
LL&A-     leye,  and  a  foolish  hanging  of  thy  nether  lip,  that  \ ,  A^ 

J"*  nL.  F^^^  warrant  me.     If  then  thou  be  son  to  me,  V'^yjJ'- 
\^A.        here  lies  the  point;    why,  being  son  to  me,  art  ^ysi^^^ 

thou  so  pointedat?     Shall;,  the- blessed  sun  of  jjv^CtX*  "^"^^ 
j^jTcAfW [heaven  prove  a  miclie^ii&^e^blackberries ?  avL.^,^.'(jiO 


uestion   not   to  be   asked.      Shall   the   son   of   ^ 
Lngland  prove  a  thief  and  take  purses?  a  ques-   (\.iAlv^^ 
ion  to  be  asked.  There  is  a  thing,  Harry,  which 
hou  hast  often  heard  of,  and  it  is  known  to  many  440 
il^ftAjoJvU^^  our  land  by  the  name  of  pitch:   this  pitch,  as 
ancient  writers  do  report,  doth  defile;    so  doth 
the  company  thou  keepest :  for,  Harry,  now  I  do 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  II.  Sc.  iv. 

not  speak  to  thee  in  drink  but  in  tears,  not  in 
pleasure  but  in^ssion,  not  inj^rds  only,  but  in 
,woes  also:  and  yet  there  is  a  virtuous  man 
whom  I  have  often  noted  in  thy  company,  but  I 
know  not  his  name. 

Prince.  What  manner  of  man,  an  it  like  your  majesty  ? 

Fal.  A  goodly  portly  man,  i'  faith,  and  a  corpulent;. 450 

of  a  cheerful  look,  a  pleasing  eye,  and  ^  ^^^^^^^  ( .X^CuX)  o^! 
jioble  carriage;    and,  as  I  think,  his  age'" some  /  Tjj 

fifty,  or  by  'r  lady,  inclining  to  three  score;  and  l|Jj*.«KijaS/ 
now  I  remember  me,  his  name  is  Falstafif :  if  that  jAajjuAilfiJ 
man  should  be  lewdly  given,  he  deceiveth  me;   I  . 
for,  Harry,  I  see  virtue  in  his  looks.    If  then  the  /  t^^ox^ 
>  '  tree  may  be  known  by  the  fruit,  as  the  fruit  by  f     -i^sft;.^ 
the  tree,  then,  peremptorily  I  speak  it,  there  is  j 
virtue  in  that  Falstaff :   him  keep  with,  the  rest  ( 
banish.    And  tell  me  now,  thou  naughty  varlet,  y.60 
tell  me,  where  hast  thou  been  this  month?  \ 

Prince.  Dost  thou  speak  like  a  king?  .Do  thou  stand 
for  me,  and  I  '11  play  my  father. 

Fal.  Depose  me?  if  thou  dost  it  half  so  gravely,  so 
majestically,  both  in  w^dand  nijW^,  hang  me 
up  by  the  heels  for  alraDbof^fcKlrera  poulter's 
hare.  fb^^xPi^^^a/c^ 

Prince.  Well,  here  I  am.  set. 

Fal.  And  here  I  stand:   judge,  my  masters.  ^ 

Prince.  Now,  Harry,  whence  come  you?  (SiSQ^v^  hJ^^^^S^xf? 

Fal.  My  noble  lord,  from  Eastcheap!  ^-^IJ^^i^'^EiSixSr 

Prince.  The  complaints  I  hear  of  thee  are  grievous. 

Fal.  'Sblood,  my  lord,  they  are  false:  nay,  I  '11  tickle 
ye  for  a  young  prince,  i'  faith. 

Prince.  Swearest  thou,  ungracious  boy?  henceforth 

77 


Act  II.  Sc.  iv.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

ne'er  look  on  me.  Thou  art  violently  carried 
away  from  grace:  there  is  a  devil  haunts  thee 
r\  ,  in  the  likeness  of  an  old  fat  man;  a  tun  of  man 
Viu  cuPo  is  thy  companion.  Why  dost  thou  converse  with 
^  Mijl<xr  that  trunk  of  n^fmoW^thaf  bolting-hutch  ot  480 
'^^P^ctJ^  beastliness,  that  swollen  parcel  of  dropsies,  that 
0  huge  bombard  of  sack,  that  stufifed  cloak-bag  oVn  >y^^, 

—^'T  guts,   that   roasted^%lanningtree   ox   with   the  ^^ 

icnt*^  puddino:  in  his  belly,  that  reverend  vice,  that 

1^ 


grey  iniquity,  that  father  ruffian,  that  vanity  in  [ujjtJ^.'t^'-t 
years?    Wherein  is  he  good,  but  to  taste  sack  iu^^ol 
and  drink  it?   wherein  neat  and^leanly,  but  to  S^J^m^ 
carve  a  capon  and  eat  it?  whereinjiunning,  but 
ino'aft?  wherein  crafty,  but  in  villany  ?  wherein 
villanous,  but  in  all  things?  wherein  worthy,  but  490 

in  nothing.  LiOxu^  Uj&^ cPWc  ^HmOA,^ 

Fal.  I  would  your  Grace  would  take  me  with  you: 

whom  means  your  Grace? 
Prince.  That    villauQUs    abominable    misleader    of 
lAJL     J>       youth,   Falstaff;:^  that  old  white-bearded   Satan. 
'^\'^Fal  My  lord,  the  man  I  know. 
Prince.  I  know  thou  dost. 

Fal.  But  to  say  I  know  more  harm  in  him  than  in 

^  myself,  were  to  say  more  than  I  know.     That 

jT/^      I     he  is  old,  the  more  the  pity,  his  white  hairs  do  500 

oS^^      ■     witness  it;    but  that  he  is,  saving  your  rever- 

,S)  !     ence,  a  whoremaster,  that  I  utterly  deny.     If 

^    /*      I     sack  and  sugar  be  a  fault,  God  help  the  wicked! 

ij^tiiilA  ;     if  to  be  old  and  merry  be  a  sin,  then  many  an 

r\     l^  old  host  that  I  know  is  damned:   if  to  be  fat  be 

/ia^oai^         to  be  hated,  then  Pharaoh's  lean  kine  are  to  be 

^Qy  '      loved.    No,  my  good  lord;  banish  Peto,  banish 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  II.  Sc.  iv. 

Bardolph,  banish  Poins  :  but  for  sweet  Jack  Fal- 
staff,  kind  Jack  Falstaff,  true  Jack  Falstaff,  val- 
iant Jack  Falstaff,  and  therefore  more  valiant,  510 
being,  as  he  is,  old  Jack  Falstaff,  banish  not  him 
thy    Harry's    company,    banish    not    him    thy  y/juu  "SX^ 
Harrv's  company  :   banish  plump  Jack,  and  ban^^^  ^X 

ish  all  the  world.  ^^    \ 

Prince.  I  do,  I  will.  [A  knocking  heard,    y^ 

[Exeunt  Hostess,  Francis,  and  Bardolph. 

Re-enter  Bardolph,  running.^ 

Bard.  O,  my  lord,  my  lord !    the  sheriff  with  a  most 

monstrous  watch  is  at  the  door. 
Fal.  Out,  ye  rogue  !     Play  out  the  play  :  I  have  much 

to  say  in  the  behalf  of  that  Falstaff". 

Re-enter  the  Hostess. 

Host.  O  Jesu,  my  lord,  my  lord  ! —  520 

Prince.  Heigh,  heigh !   the  devil  rides  upon  a  fiddle-        /WtfZ'^io 

stkk:   what's  the  matter?  ^^^^I^^i^^ 

Host.  The  sheriff  and  all  the  watch  are  at  the  ^^^'^ '•  ^^QjtxMA? Of. 

they  are  come  to  search  the  house.     Shall  I  let  /p    p  ,h^ 

them  in  ?  ^     '^^*«««c 

Fal.  Dost  thou  hear,  Hal?  never  call  a  true  piece  of  ^  ^*-^ 
goiya  counterfeit '.  thou  art  essentially  mad,  *7/^^^'^^< 
without  seeminsr  so.  ^^^^^^Uco 

Prince.  And  thou  a  natural  coward,  without  instinct.       4^ 
al.  I  deny  vourJTiaior :  if  you  will  ^d^^ny  the  sheriff,  530/- 


SO ;   if  not,  let  him  enter :   if  I  bfed^fie'not  a  &f&^^^^  ^ 
as  well  as  another  man,  a  plague  on  my  bringing  ^'  iyfifj  ♦ 
;ji^^>"".    i    Up!     I  hope  I  shall  as  soon  be  strangled  with  a  ^^x  icv 

f\Mxjux^  cjuMl  j^Qxxj^ OLffAi  Ctjajdu  ^e^Mjl'ou^ 


/y 


c/CloZ/Ax.  -  AujouJaih . 


Act  II.  Sc.  iv.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 


Prince.  Go,  hide  thee  behind  the4rr^s :  ifhe  rest  walk'' 
up  above.     Now,  my  ijiastgrs,  for  a  true  face  and 
good  conscience.   ~4^^^ir^c^;coc/?£jut/ ^^^^^  - 

Fal.  Both  which  I  have  had :    but  their  date  is  out^^f^"^^*^^^^ 
and  therefore  I  '11  hide  me. 

Prince.  Call  in  the  sheriff.  540 

[Exeunt  all  except  the  Prince  and  Peto. 

Enter  Sheriff  and  the  Carrier. 
Now,  master  sheriff,  what  is  voiir  will  with  me? 


Sher.  First,  pardon  me,  my  lord.    _.-\lrLieanQ  crvr     ^^^  ,  « 
Hath  follow'd  certain  men  imto  this  house.   ^  '-w^*^ 

Prince.  What  men? 

Sher.  One  of  them  is  well  known,  my  gracious  lord, 
A  gross  fat  man. 

Car.  As  fat  as  butter. 

Prince.  The  man,  I  do  assure  you,  is  not  here  ; 

For  I  myself  at  this  time  have  employ'd  him. 

And,  sheriff,  I  will  engage  my  word  to  thee 

That  I  will,  by  to-morrow  dinner-time,  550 

Send  him  to  answer  thee,  or  any  man,     ^J) 

For  any  thing  he  shall  be  charged  witnaT: 

And  so  let  me  entreat  you  leave  the  house. 

Sher.  I  will,  my  lord.     There  ar^  two  gentlemen 
Have  in  this  robbery  lost  three  hundred  marks. 

Prince.  It  may  be  so :   if  he  have  robb'd  these  men. 
He  shall  be  answerable ;   and  so  farewell. 

Sher.  Good  night,  my  noble  lord.   * 

P^rince.  I  think  it  is  good  morrow,  is  it  not? 

Sher.  Indeed,  my  lord,  I  think  it  be  two  o'clock.  560 

[Exeunt  Sheriff  and  Carrier. 

80 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  II.  Sc.iv.      ^ 

Prince.  This  oily  rascal  is  known  as  well  as  PauH^. 

Go,  call  him  forth. 
Peto.  Falstaff! — Fast  asleep  behind  the  arras,   and 

snorting  like  a  horse. 
Prince.  Hark,  how  hard  he  fetches  breath.     Search 
his  pockets.     [He  searcheth  his  pockets  and  Und- 
eth  certain  papers.]     What  hast  thou  found? 
Peto.  Nothing  but  papers,  my  lord. 

Prince.  Let 's  see.  what  they  be :  read  them.   ^     ^       qH    j^^^^^loa 
"3  Peto.   [Reads]  JiQm, '  ASpon,     \      .    2s.  -|dr^^^570  // » 
i      ■  .  Item,   Sauce,       ...       id.  ^^^^^ 

\  '  Item,  Sack,  two  gallons,  5s.  8d. 

;     ''^'^')^^^jjtJ^  Ittm,  Anchovies  and 
^'^  « Ti^^^^"^*'^^  sack  after  supper,   .     2s.  6d. 


£cf-^--  Item,  Bread,      .      .      .  ohjuUce/^  ^  jfULmuJL 


fmce.  O  monstrous !    but  one  half-pennyworth  of 
bread  to  this  intolerable  deal  of  sack!     What 
tbere  is  else,  keep  close ;    we  '11  Vead  it  at  more 
am^ilfagr:    there  let  him  sleep  till  day.     I  '11 
to  the  court  in  the  morning.     We  must  all  to  580 
the   wars,   and   thy   place   shdlbehanprn-ab^^^ 
I  '11  procure  this  fat  rogue  a  cfmrg?oTt^|^  2.nSi 
I  know  his  death  will  be  a  march  oP^weto-  /j)  jz,  yc#< 
^^gmggejytaU  be  paid  back  again  with  ^w.^^^ 
aavantageT^Bewmfme  betimes  m  the  mornmg ;    /Cajc.eJ2tJi; 
and  so,  good  morrow,  Peto. 
Peto.  Good  morrow,  good  my  lord.  [Exeunt. 


'>^ 


81 


Act  III.  Sc.  i.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

ACT   THIRD. 
Scene  I. 


Bangor.     The  Archdeacon's  house. 

Enter  Hotspur,  Worcester,  Mortimer,  and  Glendower. 

Mort.  These  promises  are  fair,  tbe  parties  sure, 

And  our  il^<?tio,mif  of  p'fergli'f^^SP^"*^ 
Hot.  Lord  Mortimer,  and  cousin  Glendower, 
Will  you  sit  down? 

And  uncle  Worcester :   a  plague  upon  it ! 
I  have  forgot  the  map. 
Glend.  '  No,  here  it  is. 

Sit,  cousin  Percy ;   sit,  good  cousin  Hotspur, 
For  by  that  name  as  oft  as  Lancaster 
Doth  speak  of  you,  his  cheek  looks  pale,  and  with 
A  rising  sigh  he  wisheth  you  in  heaven.  lo 

Hot.  And  you  in  hell,  as  oft  as  he  hears  Owen  Glen- 
dower spoke  of. 
Glend.  I  cannot  blame  him  :  at  my  nativity 
fOiju^       ^JJ^^  front  of  heaven  was  full  of  fiery  shapes,      f\      ^     \ 
jyA-qjc.^Oi  burning  cressets;   and  at  my  birth  1  U-^*^^*^ 

[uduoo^  ./flffThe  frame  and  hugq,  foiindation  o|  the  earth      .  C<5u>«ta-»^ 
a^  Q^xix^  Shaked  like  a  coward.  ^t^yj<-a*> 

'.^uuiuuPHot.  Why,  so  it  would  have  done  at  the  same  sea-  ^a^o*  "^ 
j^^Ij/>  son,    if    your    mother's    cat    had    but    kittened,        ^^^^^^T* 

though  yourself  had  never  been  born. 
Glend.  I  say  the  earth  did  shake  when  I  was  born.         20 
Hot.  And  I  say  the  earth  was  not  of  my  mind. 

If  you  suppose  as  fearing  you  it  shook. 
Glend.  The  heavens  were  all  on  fire,  the  earth  did  tremble." 
Hot.  O,  then  the  earth  shook  to  see  the  heavens  on  fire, 
And  not  in  fear  of  your  nativity. 

82 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  III.  Sc.  i. 

Diseased  nature  oftentimes  breaks  forth 
In  strange  eruptions;   oft  the  teeming  earth 
Is  with  a  kind  of  coHc  pinch'd  and  vex'd 
By  the  imprisoning  of  unruly  wind  30 

Within  her  womb;  which,  for  enlargement  skiving, 
Shakes  the  old  beldam  earth  and  to%Tes^lbwn  -^^•^*~ 
Steeples  aimd  moss-grown  towers.    At  Y^U-r*  birl 
Our^^rS^^BSearm^  having  this  distemperature, 
In  passion  shook. 
Glend.  Cousin,  oLmanv  men 

I  do  not  bear  these  crossings.     Give  me  leave 
To  tell  you  once  again  that  at  my  birth 
The  front  of  heaven  was  full  of  fiery  shapes, 
The  goats  ran  from  the  mountains,  and  the  herds 
Were  strangely  clamorous  to  the  frighted  fields.   40 
These  signs  have  mark'd  me  extraordinary; 
And  all  the  courses  of  my  life  do  show 
I  am  not  in  the  roll  of  cpmnTr)n  jnen.-  pQqX) 
Where  is  he  living,  cnp^^S^wimtne  sea 
That-chides  the  banks  of  England,  Scotland,  Wales, 
Wmdi  calls  me  pupil,  or  hatlT^^S" wlnef"^ 
And  bring  Jiim  out  that  is  but  woman's  -son 
Can  race  mennTnenedious  ways  of- art, 
And  h^ra^iftepace^^maeep  experiments. 
Hot.  I  think  there's  no  man  speaks  better  Welsh.        50 

I  '11  to  dinner. 
Mort.  Peace,  cousin  Percy;  you  will  rmke  him  mad.  (  kf^% 
Glend.  I  can  call  spirits  from  the  vS^deep.  \ 

Hot.  Why,  so  can  I,  or  so  can  any  man;  . 

But  will  they  come  when  you  do  call  for  them?    } 
Glend.  Why,  I  can  teach  you,  cousin,  to  command 
The  devil. 

83 


Act  III.  Sc.  i.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Hot.  And  I  can  teach  thee,  coz,  to  shame  the  devil 
By  telUng  truth:   tell  truth,  and  shame  the  devil. 
If  thou  have  power  to  raise  him,  bring  him  hither,  6:1 
And  I  '11  be  sworn  I  have  power  to  shame  him  hence. 
O,  while  you  live,  tell  truth,  and  shame 'the  devil! 

Mort.  Come,  come,  no  more  of  this  unprc^ta^ble  chat^  i^ 

Glend.  Three  times  hath  Henry  Bohngbrok^  made  head 
Against  my  power;  thrice  from  the  banks  ot  Wye  " 
-   n     ^   ^^^  sandv-boitom'd  Severn  have  I  sent  him 
/^Bootftss  hom^^nd  weather-beaten  back. 

Hot.  Home  without  boots,  and  in  foul  weather  too! 
How  'scapes  he  agues,  in  the  devil's  name? 

Glend.  Come,  here  's  the  map  :  shall  we  divide  our  right   70 
According  to  our  threefold  or3er*t0^t.'^*^^iILajd2v. 

Mort.  The  archdeacon  hath  divided  it 

Into  three  limits  very  equally:     tJ^^Cccua  'CfJ3¥ 
England,  from  Trent  and  Severn  hitherto. 
By  south  and  east  is  to  my  paVrassign'd: 
All  westward,  Wales  beyond  the  Severn  shore, 
And  all  the  fertile  land  wjtl^in  that  bound. 
To  Owen  Glendower:   and,  dear  coz,  to  you 
/laQh  The  remnant  northward,  lying  ofif  from  Trent. 

ixaahjuAaaP*    And  our  indentures  tripartite  are  drawn;        y,     80 


XXTLc- 


LC^ 


*    Which  being  sealed  mt|rcte^^fi^;;;^^^^^^^T7^^^^ 

5e««.*«i*4'^"''"^''  *=*'  this  night  may  execut^^^^^^l^^V 

'  io-morrow,  cousm  Percy,  you  and  I  ^* 

And  my  good  Lord  of  Worcester  will  set  forth 
To  meet  your  father  and  the  Scottish  power. 
As  is  apppinted  U5,  at  Shrewsbury. 
My  fathep&len^wer  is  not  ready  yet. 
Nor  shall  we  need  his  help  these  fourteen  days. 
84 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  III.  Sc.  i. 

Within  that  space  you  may  have  drawn  together 

Your  tenants,  friends,  and  neighbouring  gentlemen. 
Glend.  A  shorter  time^hall  send  me  to  you,  lords:       91 

And  in  my  co^^t  shall  your  ladies  come; 

From  whom  you  now  must  steal  and  take  no  leave, 

For  there  will  be  a  world  of  water  shed 

Upon  the  parting  of  your  wives  and  you. 
Hot,  Methinks  my  mqlef^iorth  from  Burton  here. 

In  quantity  equals  not  one  of  y^^\^^J^2tJ.c^    irr    J)    ^ 

See  how  this  river  comes  mecf^^Sngm/^  vr^*^^ict<A^ 

And  cuts  me  from  the  best  of  all  rnv  land 

A  huge  half-moon,  a  monstrous  ^n^out.     a    100 

I'll  have  the  current  in  thi^place  damm'o^^p;    y ''^  Lc^^i^J} 

And  here  the  smug'  a^nd  silver  Trent  shall  run  tjio^^y^*^ 

In  a  new  channel,  fair  and  evenly;    ♦   -{^jg^tAfaJ'^trix^ 

It  shall  not  wind  with  such  a  deep  iSenL  ./y 

To  rob  me  of  so  rich  a  ^^f^l^.'^^*^/  OiJLid^ 

Glend.  Not  wind?  it  shall,  it  must;  you  see  it  doth.        ' 

Mort.  Yea,  but 

Mark  how  he  bears  his  course,  and  runs  me  up 

With  like  advantage  on  the  other  side; 

Gelding  the  c^^Sseu^ntinent  as  much  no 

As  on  the  other  side  it  takes  frpm  you.  ^  ^  - 

Wor.  Yea,  but  a  little  charge  will  tre^t  him  here, 

.  . * 

And  on  this  north  side  win  this  cape  of  land; 

And  then  he  runs  straight  and  even. 

Hot.  I  '11  have  it  so:  a  little  charge  will  do  it. 

Glend.  I  '11  not  have  it  alter'd. 

Hot.  Will  not  you? 

Glend.  No,  nor  you  shall  not. 

Hot.  Who  shall  say  me  nay? 

Glend.  Why,  that  will  I. 

85 


Act  III.  Sc.  i.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Hot.  Let  me  not  understand  you,  then;    speak  it  in 

Welsh.  120 

Glend.  I  can  speak  EngHsh,  lord,  as  well  as  you; 

For  I  was  train'd  up  in  the  En|fch  cmjrt-   ,^^^^ 
Where,  bemg  but  young,  1  i^nied  toihe  harp 
Many  an  English  dittv  lovely  welL 
And  gave  the^jo^gue  a  r^t^momament, 
A  virtue  that  v^^as  never  seen  in  you. 
Hot.  Marry, 

And  I  am  glad  of  it  with  all  my  heart: 
I  had  rather  be  a  kitten  and  cr^^^new 
d-  ^^  Than  one  of  these  same  metre ^allad-niongeis ;  130 
^/T  I  had  rather  hear  a  brazen^^sm^  turird,"^^^<f«^  -^^Uiyuo/ 

Or  a  dry  wheel  grate  on  the  axleotre^-  ^ 
And  that  would  set  mv/ieeth  n^mmg  -on  edge, 
_  —  Nothing  so  inuch  as  i^Mcmg  poetry: 

jUxfJLJ2US(y  'Tis  like  the^orced^^ii  of  ^shuffling  nag. 
'■wf^'Glend.  Come,  you  shall  have  Trent  turn'd. 
^/^^^^  Hot.  I  do  not  care:    I'll  give  thrice  so  much  land 
To  any  well-deserving  friend; 
>  But  in  the  way  of  bargain,  mark  ye  m6; 

I  '11  cavil  on  the  ninth  part  of  a  hair.  140 

Are  the  indentures  drawn?   shall  we  be  gone? 
Glcnd.  The  moon  shines  fair:  you  may  away  by  night: 
^  ,    L^l  haste  jthe.writer,  and  withal 

/)c/z.»t*£^  igl^^g^^ '^, J^  wives  of  your  departure  hence: 

I  am  afraid  my  daughter  will  run  mad. 

So  much  she  doteth  on  her  Mortimer.  [Exit. 

Mort.  Fie,  cousin  Percy!  how  you  cross  my  father! 

Hot.  I  cannot  choose:   sometime  li^  angers  me 
With  telling  me  of  the  niom^^p  and  the  ant. 
Of  the  dreamer_MerHn  and  his  prophecies,  150 

^Q&  ax*AAi^aajLL  *P    86 


fcayfLtHg/^O 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  III.  Sc.  i, 

And  of  a  dragon  and  a  finless  fish, /^^^^^^^ 
A  cjip-^wingkigriffin  and  a  m&rflren  ^ven/      -- 
^^^i^t^hnd  ajffl^^!lg^t,^  -^^ta:*^ 
deal  ofskimble-s ' 


A 

And*'such  a  deal  or^dmble-skamble  stuff      0  oudicfi 

As  puts  me  from  my  faith.     I  tell  you  what, —  ^     0  '    ^ 

He  held  me  last  night  at  least  nine  hours  ^-*«^ 

In  reckoning  up  the  several  devils'  names 

That  were  his  lackeys :   I  cried  '  hum,'  and  '  well,  go 

to,' 
But  mark'd  him  not  a  w^ord.    O,  he  is  as  tedious 
As  a  tired  horse,  a  railing  wife;  i6o 

Worse  than  a  smoky  house :    I  had  rather  live 
With  cheese  ^d  garlip  in  a  windmill,  far. 
Than  feed  oru  catesanxRiave  him  talk  to  me 
In  any  summerMi^use  in  Christendom. 

Mort.  In  faith,  he  is  a  worthy  gentle^n^^^  aJ^ou^^^jLjO 
Exceedingly  _vvell  read,^nd  prpmgcf:         '  ^-te**^"    * 
In  stra^?conce^m^St*VaHant  as  a  Hon,  0  .jjutf*" tUjiM^^ 
And  wondrous  affable,  and  as  bountiful 
As  mines  of  India.    Shali  I  tell  you.  cousin ?^.-^ 
He  holds  ygurfen^er  m  a  hi^frespe^***^"^      170       ^ 
And^^urSyiiimfelf  even  of  his  natural  scop^^^^^^^^-^-^'*^'^^ 
When  you  come  'cross  his  humour;   faith,  he  does: 
I  warrant  you,  that  man  is  not  alive 
Might  so  have  tempted  him  as  you  have  done,      ^     ^ 
Without  the  taste  of  danger  and  r^fogf^  u<sJai*cJU 
But  do  not  use  it  oft,  let  me  ^^tr^t^L.    ^^^^^^^^^ 

Wor.  In  faith,  my  lord,  you  are  too  wilf ul^blamfe : 
And  since  your  coming  hiUier  have  done  enough 
To  put  him  quite  ^^jae  his  patience. 
You  must  needs  learn,  lord,  to  amend  this  fault:  180 
Though    sometimes    it     show    greatness,    courage, 
blood, — 

87 


Act  III.  Sc.  i.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 


And  that 's  the  dearest  grace  it  renders  you, — 
Yet  oftentimes  it  doth  present  harsh  rage, 
Defect  of  manners,  want  ^f  gov^inipnt. 
Pride,  haughtiness,  Q^^3E.n 'a^cusaain : 
The  least  of  which  haunting  a  nobleman 
Loseth  men's  hearts,  and  leaves  behind  a  stain 

C^^-..yBS^^&E|r^'>'  f  ^^^  parts  besides, 

legu!lmg7[hem  of  commendation.^^^^^^^^  ^  ^^^ 

Hot.  Well,  I  am  school'd:   good  manners  be  your  speed!  '' 
Here  come  our  wives,  and  let  us  take  our  leave.  191 

Re-enter  Glendozver  zvith  the  ladies. 

Mort.  This  is  the  deadly  spite  that  angers  me; 

*   My  wife  can  speak  no  English,  I  no  Welsh. 
Gland.  My  daughter  weeps:   she  will  not  part  with  you; 

She  '11  be  a  soldier  too,  she  '11  to  the  wars. 
Mort.  Good  father,  tell  her  that  she  and  my  aunt  Percy 
Shall  follow  in  your  conduct  speedily. 

[Glendower  speaks  to  her  in  Welsh,  and  she 
anszvers  him  in  the  same. 
Glend.  She  is  desperate  here;  a  peevish  self-will'd 
harlotry,  one  that  no  persuasion  can  do  good 
upon.  [The  lady  speaks  in  Welsh.     200 

Mort.  I  understand  thy  looks:  that  pretty  Welsh 

Which    thou    pour'st    down    from     these    swelling 

heavens 
I  am  too  perfect  in;  ^,nd,  but  for  shame. 
In  such  a  parl^^*snoufar  answer  thee. 
Ajc^iAei<fl^  [The  lady  speaks' again  in  Welsh. 

4pjj^         I  understand  thy  kisses  and  thou  mine, 
k  iQoJL/       And  that's  i  feeling  d^gtl^^^' ^^ 
ii.lSljL  ^^^  I  ^'^'^^^  nevef  be  a  truant,  love, 

\C\  Till  I  have  learn'd  thy  language;   for  thy  tongue 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  III.  Sc.  i. 

Makes  Welsh  as  sweet  as  ditties  highly  penn'd, 
Sung  by  a  fair  queenm  ^smiimer's  bower,  210 

With  ravishing  ^^onttSiiermte. 
Glend.  Nay,  if  you  melt,  then  will  she  run  mad. 

[The  lady  speaks  again  in  Welsh. 

Mort.  O,  I  am  ignorance  itselfin  th;s !         '^«<^ 
Glend.  She  bids  you  on  the  *w^6n^^n^6es  fay  you  down 
And  rest  your  gentle  head  upon  her  lap, 
And  she  will  sing  the  song  that  pleaseth  you. 
And  on  your  eyelids  crown  the  god  of  sleep, 
Charming  your  blood  with  pleasinsheaviness, 
Making  such  difference  'twixt  wa^^nS  sleep 
As  is  the  difference  b^ijt  dav^d j^igjjj^^^  220 
The  hour  before  the  hea ven1y-har n e^s. d  team     * 
Begins  his  golden  progress  in  the  east. 
Mort.  With  all  my  heart  L'll  sit  and  hear  her  sing: 
By  that  time  will  ourDgQ^fTlihink,  be  drawn. 

Glend.  Do  so; 

And  those  musicians  that  shall  play  to  you 
Hang  in  the  air  a  thousand  leagues  from  hence. 
And  straight  they  shall  be  here:   sit,  and  attend. 

Hoi.  Come,  Kate,  thou  art  perfect  in    lying   down: 

come,  quick,  quick,  that  I  may  lay  my  head  in  230 
thy  lap. 

Lady  P.  Go,  ye  giddy  goose.  [The  music  plays. 

Hot.  Now  I  perceive  the  devil  ^U^de^tands  Welsh; 


And  'tis  no  marvel  he  is  sd-Hm^orous. 
By  'r  lady,  he  is  a  good  musician. 
Lady  P.  Then  should  you  be  nothing  but  musical, 
for  you  are  ^altogether  governed  by  humours. 
Lie  still,  ye   thief,   and   hear  the   lady    sing   in 
Welsh.  cAykxJi  (Scc  ^i<J<JLu^  ^dUM^fkAJcuuJi^ 

89 


Act  IIL  Sc.  I.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Hot.  I  had  rather  hear  Lady,  my  brach,  howl  in         240 
Irish. 

Lady  P.  Wouldst  thou  have  thy  head  broken? 

Hot.  No. 

Lady  P.  Then  be  still. 

Hot.  Neither;    'tis  a  woman's  fault. 

Lady  P.  Now  God  help  thee! 

Hot.  To  the  Welsh  lady's  bed. 

Lady  P.' What's  that? 

Hot.  Peace!   she  sings. 

\^Hcrc  the  lady  sings  a  Welsh  song. 

Hot.  Come,  Kate,  I  '11  have  your  song  too.  250 

Lady  P.  Not  mine,  in  good  sooth. 
^jLou      Hot.  Not  yours^in^ood  sooth!     Heart!   you  swear 
k-6t^*^     like  a  conwwnakfr  s  wife.     '  Not  you,  in  good 
"^^ccAfccA^  sooth,'  and  '  as  true  as  I  live,'  and  '  as  God  shall 
^^^i          mend  me,'  and  *as  sure  as  day,' 
U^car^^      And  givest  such-sarcenet  surety  for  thy  oaths, 
Tujuuxxfijt.    As  if  thou  never  walk'st  further  thair-Finsbur^^ 
\xSr^        Swear  me,  Kate,  like  a  lady^S'»thou  art, 
l'fUJ^^^lMJ^ ^  good  maiitli-filling  oath,  and  leave  *  in  sooth,' 
t(2jL  (Jsix^  And  suclr-|5rot£st  of  pepper-gingerbread,  260 

^^j|      Tcr\^elvet-guards  and  Sunday-citizens.  r     ^ 

'"^J  Come,  sing.  (Stl^/*-^  ^cc^  ^  S^^juJU^  kUi> 

.    T   Lady  P.  I  will  not  sing.  i^^^^^ei^ 

JrJ)  Hot.  'Tis  the  next  way  to  turn  tailor,   or  be  J^^cyLoujtit^  c 
^  breast  teacher.     An  the  indentures  be  drawn,q^  -^hieHa 

*^^  I  '11  away  within  these  two  hours ;   and  so,  come 

in  when  ye  will.  [Exit. 

^'^yf^^rGiend.  Come,  come,  Lord  Mortimer;  you  are  as  slow 

^^^'        As  hot  Lord  Percy  is  on  fire  to  go. 
""^^jD     -^y  ^^^^  °^^  book  is  drawn;   we ''41  but  seal,  270 


KING  HENRY  IV. 


Act  III.  Sc.  ii. 


And  then  to  horse  immediately 


Mort. 


With  all  my  heart. 
{Exeunt. 


Scene  II. 


¥f^. 


London.     The  palace. 

Enter  the  King,  Prince  of  Wales,  and  others. 

ing.  Lords,  giveji^aye;    tile  Prince  of  Wales  and  I 
Must  have  some  private  conference:   but  be  near  at 

hand,  - 
For  we  shall  presently  have  need  of  you. 

[Excnnt  Lords. 
I  know  not  whether  God  will  have  it  so, 
For  some  displeasing  ^®f:^  have  done, 
That,  in  his  secgt  doom,  out  of  my  blood 
He  '11  breed  re^^^^ieht  and.  a  scourge  for  me; 
ut  thou  dost  in  thy  pag^agjf^li?e  ^'/^^^ 
ake  me  believe  that  thou  art  only  mark'd 
For  the  hot  vengeance  and  the  rod  of  heaven         lo 
Qi,.    To  punish  my'TOlfnsadings.    Tell  me  else, 

Could  such  inordinate  and  low  desires,  /2u>c/r^yUjukjU 

Such  poor,  such  bare,  such  lewd,  such  mean  attempts. 
Such  barren  pleasures,  rude  society. 
As  thou  art  match'd  withal  and  grafted  to. 
Accompany  the  greatness  of  thy  blood, 
I       And  hold  their  level  with  thy  princely  heart? 
Prince.  So  please  your  majesty,  I  would  I  could 
Quit  all  offences  with  as  clear  excuse 
As  well  as  I  am  doubtless  I  can  purge 
Myself  of  many  I  am  charged  withal: 
Yet 
As, 


u 


20 


y-self  of  many  I  am  charged  withal:  ^  3 

5,  m  reyrooT  otinany  tales  devtseaT  #        ' 


91 


Act  III.  Sc.  ii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 


"   .  Which  oft  the  ear  of  greatness  needs  must  hear, 

^,        By  smiHng  ^ick^thank^  and  base  newsmongers, 
I  may,. for,  some  things  true,  wherein  my  youth 
Hath  fauhy  wander'd  an4  irregular. 
Find  pardon  on  my  true  submission. 
King.  God-pardon  thee!   yet  let  me  wonder,  Harry, 


tlry  aSsmon'sfwnich  do  hold  a  wing  ]^,j 

i) .  Quifetronfmeiiight  of  all  thy  ance^ors.     ^    ^,        ^' 

^S)  \       Thy  place  in  council  thou  -hast  ru^Iyffst.     ^        m        T 

WhicH  by  thy  younger  brother  is  supplied, 
OP^/jMi"^  And  art  almost  an  alien  to  the  hearts 
,;>*^^  Of  all  the  court  and  princes  of  my  blood: 

JOM-J  xiie  hope  and  expectation  of  thy  time 

,^--r^  Is  ruin'd,  and  the  soul  of  every  man 

Prophetically  doth  forethink  thy  fall. 
Had  I  so  lavish  £)f  my  presence  been. 
So  com^irm^^na^Ji^yVl  in  the  eyes  of  men,  40 

So  stale  and  cheap  to  vulgar  company, 
Ic  C|U^V^^^*ppinion.  that  did  help  me  to  the  crown, 
^^^^^'^^^^  Had  still  kept  loyal  to  ^l^si^t^*^ 
And  left  me  in  reputeless  banishment, 
A  fellow  of  no  mark  nor  hkelihood. 
By  being  seldom  seen,  I  could  not  stir 
But  like  a  comet  I  was  wonder'd  at ; 
That  men  would  tell  their  children     '  This  is  he  '; 
Others  would  say,  '  Where,  which  is  Bolingbroke?  ' 
And  then  I  stole  all  courtesy  from  heaven,  50 

And  dress'd  myself  in  such  humility  I 

That  I  did  pluck  allegiance  from  men's  hearts,         \ 
Loud  shouts  and  salutations  from  their  mouths,        \ 
Even  in  the  presence  of  the  crowned  king. 
Thus  did  I  keep  my  person  fresh  and  new;^ 


KING  HENRY  IV. 


Act  III.  Sc.  ii. 


My  presence,  like  a  robe  pontificaj/ 
^ Ne'er  seen  but  wonder'd  atj^and  so  my  state,  Q)  lijtccJjlcu) 
'^^•^^^^^dcfombut  sumptuous.,  showerl  like  a  feast,     /Korsio  6u/ua^ 
ienes?,  ^ufch  solemnity.    *       T    (jyy  «- 


60 


•^^-^ 


/^  i  i  he  ekippjjti^  langT/he  amDled  up  and  down, 
;3Vith  shallow  jesters  an^Hraslypavin  wits, 

^  Soon  kindled  and  soon  burnt;   carded  his  ^tate, 
Mingled  his  royalty  with  c^^^^^fooi^^*^^'^^^ 

V.X  JJad  his  great  name  profaned  with  their  scorus,     . 
j*VAnd  gave  his  counfenance,  aggmst^^^^M^ry*  t^^ 
To  laugh  at  gibing  boys,  ancr^aj^iLth^-fiush    ^^^ 
Of  every  beardless  vain  comparM^.^^  ^u^*£S^^ 
Grew  a  ^companion  to  th^  copimon  streets, 
^Te^^^msflf^^pop1.rfari$^ ; 
That,  being  daily  swallow'd  by  men's  eyes, 
They  surfeited  with  honey  and  began 
To  loathe  the  taste  of  sweetness,  whereof  a 
More  than  a  little  is  by  much  too  much. 
So  when  he  had  occasion  to  be  seen, 
I  He  was  but  as  the  cuckoo  is  in  June, 

^  J  Heard,  not  regarded;  seen,  but  with  such  eyes' 

;  /As,  sick  and  blunted  with  comrmmr^^*'^'^*^'  f"^^^^^ 

\  Vj^fiford  no  extraordinary  gaze, 

Such  as  is  bent  on  sun-like  majesty 

When  it  shines  seldomiojadmiring  eyes;  80 

But  rathercI^^gdanamSng  their  eyelids  down. 

Slept  in  his  face  and  render'd  such  aspect 

As  cloudy  men  use  to  their  adversaries, 

Being  with  his  presew:e  glutted,  gorged  and  full. 

And  in  that  veryuneTHarry,  standest  thou; 

For  tliou  hast  lost  thv  Drincely  privilege 

Witnvue  pam^ation :   not  an  eye 


93 


Act  in.  Sc.  ii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

But  is  a-weary  of  thy  common  sight, 
Save  mine,  which  hath  desired  to  see  thee  more; 
Which  now  doth  that  I  would  not  have  it  do,         90 
Make  bhnd  itself  with  foolish  tenderness. 

Prince.  I  shall  hereafter,  my  thrice  gracious  lord, 
Be  more  myself. 

King.  For  all  the  world 

As  thou  art  to  this  hour  was  Richard  then 
When  I  from  France  set  foot  at  Ravenspurgh, 
And  even  as  I  was  then  is  Percy  now. 
Now,  by  my  sceptre  andipy  soul  to  boot, 
He  hath  more  worthy  i^^real:  to  the  state 
Than  thou  the  shadow  of  succession; 
For  of  no  right,  nor  coburjike  to^jight^  .^.^^.^  loo 
He  doth  fill  fields  with  harness  in  the  realm, 
Turns  head  against  the  lion's  armed  jaws. 
And,  being  no  more  in  debt  to  years  than  thou, 
Leads  ancient  lords  and^  reverend  bishops  on 
To  bloody  battles  and  ta  bruising  arms. 
7V^/      What  never-dying  honour  hath  he  got 

^1     Against  renowned  Douglas!  .whose  hisfh  deeds. 
Whose  hot  mcursions  and  great  name  m  arms 
Holds  from  all  soldiers.chief  ^^^'  ^'^^^ 
And  military  title  (^pf£al^y^  no 

Through  all  the  kingdoms  that  acknowledge  Christ: 
Thrice  hath  this  Hotspur,  Mars  in  swathling  clothes, 
This  infant  warrior,  in  his  enterprizes 

^comfited  great  Douglas,  ta'en  him  once, 
arged  him  and  made  a  friend  of  him. 
To  fill  the  mouth  of  deep  defiance  up. 
And  shake  the  peace  and  safety  of  our  throne. 
And  what  say  you  to  this?    Percy,  Northumberland, 

94 


OJUAA-^ 


Lmarpfe 


..tiuaMi^oftfsu^- 


III.  Sc.  ii. 

[Ta£e_o£Yc^' Douglas,  Mortimer, 


rajQimiaJe  ag^nst  lis  and  are  w^.uu,(3Ln4jot^       120 
But  wherefore  do  I  tell  these  news  to  .thee? 
Why,  Harry,  do  I  tell  thee  of  my  foes. 
Which  art  my  near'st  and  dearest  enemy.E, 
Thou  that  art  like  enough,,  through -vfls^f ear,     - 
Base  inclination  and  the  sfe^fffllpfeeify' "^^^-fC^^^^^ 
To  fight  against  me  under  Percy's  pay, 
To  dog  his  heels  and  curtsy  at  his  frowns, 
To  show  how  much  thou  art  degenerate. 
Prince.  Do  not  think  so;  you  shall  not  find  it  so: 

And  God  forgive  them  that  so  much  have  sway'd 

Your  majesty's  good  thoughts  away  from  mel      131 

I  will  redeem  all  this  on  Percy's  head, 

And  in  the  closing  of  some  glorious  day 

Be  bold  to  tell  you  that  I  am  your  son ;     (Z^ /(JliJiJax^LJ^ 

When  I  will  wear  a  garment  all  of  blood,  ^mftoLpt'ou^''- 

And  stain  mf^^^fm  a  bloody  mask,    f^^^^kJlILf  urSjnju^x 

Which,  wash'd  away,  shall  scour  my  shame  with  it^^^^toT^ 

And  that  shall  be  the  day,  whene'er  it  lights,     ^  ^S^^Jj*. 

That  this  same  child  of  honour  and  renown,  Msj^axML 

This  gallant  Hotspur,  this  all-praised  knight,       140 

Anct  your  untliought-of  Harry  chance  to  meet. 

For  every  honour  sitting  on  his  helm, 

Would  they  were  multitudes,  and  on^rny  head 

My  shames  redoubled!   for  the  time  will  come, 

That  I  shall  make  this  northern  youth  exchange 


His  glorious  deeds  for  my 
Percv  is  but  my  mgtor,  goc 


indignities, 
ood  mv  lord. 


To  engross_up  glorious  deeds  on  my  behalf; 

And  I  will  call  him  to  so  strict  account. 

That  he  shall  render  every  glory  up,  150 

95 


Act  III.  Sc.  ii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Yea,  even  the  slightest  worship  of  his  time, 
Or  I  will  tear  the  reckoning  from  his  heart. 
This,  in  the  name  of  God,  I  promise  here: 
The  which  if  he  be  pleased  I  shall  perform, 
I  do  beseech  your  majesty  may  salve 
The  long-grown  wounds  of  my  mfempjrance : 
If  not,  the-end  of  life  cancels  all  bam_ 
And  I  will  die  a  hundred  thousand  deaths 
Ere  break  the  smallest  parcel  of  this  vow. 
King.  A  hundred  thousand  rebels  die  in  this:  i6o 

Thou  shalt  have  charge  and  sovereign  trust  herein. 

Enter  Blunt. 

How  now,  good  Blunt?  thy  looks  are  full  of  speed. 

Blunt.  So  hath  the*  business  that  I  come  to  speak  of. 
Lord  Mortimer  of  Scotland  hath  sent  word 
That  Douglas  and  the  English  rebels  met 
The  eleventh  of  this  month  at  Shrewsbury:    , 
A  mighty  and  a  fearful  head  they  are, 
If  promises  be  kept  on  every  hand, 
As  ever  ofifer'd  foul  play  in  a  state. 

King.  The  Earl  of  Westmoreland  set  forth  to-day;     170 
Witkhim  my  son   Lord  John  of  Lancaster; 
F^ftnis  aaverfisement  is  five  days  old: 
On  Wednesday  next,  Harry,  you  shall  set  forward; 
On  Thursday  we  ourselves  will  march:   our  meeting 
Is  Bridgenorth:   and,  Harry,  you  shall  march 
Through  Gloucestershire;   by  v^ch  account, 
Our  business  vaffie^rsomlwef^  days  hence 
Our  general  forces  at  Bridgenorth  shall  meet. 
r.  Our  handsjireJuU  of  business:   let's  away;  179 

J^'^^'^'^tM^^^tnm  fat,  while  men  delay.    [Exeunt, 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  III.  Sc.  iii. 

Scene  III. 

The  Boars-Head  Tavern  in  Eastcheap. 

Enter  Falstaff  and  Bardolph. 

Fal.  Bardolph,  am  I  not  ia Ilea  away  vileJx  ^in^e  this 
last  action?    do  I  w^^^Mt  'f'^S^Lnm^^^dle  ? 
Why,  my  skin  haners  about  me  like  an  old  Jady's?         ^j     /fj     . 
loose  gown;    I  am  withered  like  an  ^^IV^  ^ 
John.     Well,.  I  '11  ^repent,    and    that    suddenly,  >iW^ 
while  I  am%^^^|^j|;^  shall  be  out  of '^^^  ^f^^Ui/^ 
heart  shortly,  and  then  I  shall  have  no  strength 
to  repent.     An  I  have  not  forgotten  what  the 
inside^  of  a  church  is  made  of,  I  am  a  pepper-        Q)fpis<^» 
corn,^i.brewer's  horse:  'the  insidgof^acljr^^         Jo  ^^xJc. 
Companv,  villanous  companv,  hath  b^en  thef  spoiTy    Q         .-. 
of  me.  ^ 


Bard.  Sir  John,  you  are  so  fretful,  you  cannot  live^**^'^*'''   t^^ 

long.  "  ^JrjOL^.^  jr 

Fal.  Why,  there  is  it :  come  sing  me  a  ^^^^O^song ;  iV^^-*^*^ 
make  me  merry.  I  was  as  virtuously* given  as  a  Jibi.  ©l  jZilj 
gentleman  need  to  be  ;  virtuous  enough  ;  swore  ^.j^g^j^  ^ 
little ;  diced  not  above  seven  times  a  week  ;  went  ' 

to  a  bawdy-house  not  abov^'once  in  %^  quarter — 
of  an  hour;   paid  money  that  I -borrowed,  three     20 


/ 


or  four  times  ;   lived  well,  and  in^DOOTompass  -  Jy^ >  ^ 

and  now  I  live  out  of  all  order,  out  of  all  com-    * 

pass. 
Bard.  Why,  you  are  so  fat,  Sir  John,  that  you  must 

needs  be  out  of  all  compass,  out  of  all  reasonable 

compass,  Sir  John. 
FaL  Do  thou  amend  thy  face,  and  I  '11  amend  my  life : 

thou  art  our  admiral^  thou  bearest  the  lantern  in 


Act  HI.  Sc.  iii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

the  poop,  but  'tis  in  the  nose  of  thee ;    thou  art 

the  Knight  of  the  Burning  Lamp.  33 

Bard.  Why,  Sir  John,  my  face  does  you  no  harm. 

Fal.  No,  I  '11  be  sworn;   I  make  as  good  use  of^it  as 

tc^  CAJtJUu    many  a  man  doth  of  a  Death's-head  or  ^^^e-. 

tj^4,  €7i0iJ  Hiento  mori :     I  never  see  thy  face  but  I  think 

^'-'**^-*7**'**^pon  hell-fire,  and  Dives  that  lived  in  purple ; 

T**^  ^^J)     ^^^  there  he  is  in  his  robes,  burning,  burning. 

^^^^Oi^^*j      If  thou  wert  any  way  given  to  virtue,  I  would 

MA  swear  by  thy  face  ;  my  oath  should  be,   '  By  this 

i^^zf^-^  W    fire,  that 's  God's  angel  ' :  but  thou  art  altogether 

'     given  over;  and  w^ert  indeed,  but  for  the  lights  in     40 
thy  face,  the  son  of  utter  darkness.     When  thou 
rannest  up  Gadshill  in  the  night  to  catch  mv 
horse, .if  I  did  not  think  thou  hadst  been  anjgnjs 
,  ^fiffij^r  a  ball  of  wildfire,  the^'^o  piircha^ 

,>t/L  in  money.     O,  thou  art  a  perpetuartriumpii,'''§n/ 

i^Pefio^^^  everlasting  bonfire-ligrht !     Thou  hast  saved- me 
r^  a  thousand  marks  i^inks  and  torches,  walking 

'*"      ^  with  thee  in  the  night  betwixt  tavern  and  tavern  : 

^x,eU<Ji^       but  the  sack  that  thou  hasLdru|ik  me- would  have 
jLUL^  Uk      bought  me  lights  as  g6ocl  cnSpYaime  dearest     50 
£ji^  Wl>^rhandler's  in  Europe.     I  have  maintained  that 
to^^^f- salamander  of  vours  with  fire  anv  time  this  two 


c^o^t^-'^^j^    and  thirty  years  ;   God  reward  me  for  it ! 
tJ^^^^^ryBard.  'Sblood,  I  would  my  face  were  in  your  belly! 
^4^^^^  Fal  God-a-mercy!    so  should  I  be  sure  to  be  heart- 
f^^ZO>         burned. 


"fjO^ 


Enter  Hostess. 

^^  *^  I  How  nowrPame  Partlet  the  hen  !    have  you  in- 

^^^-^^^^         quired  yet  who  picked  my  pocket? 

Host.  Why.  Sir  John,  what  do  you  think,  Sir  John  ? 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  III.  Sc.  lii. 

do  you  think  I  keep  thieves  in  my  house?     I     60 
have  searched,  I  have  inquired,  so  has  my  hus- 
band, man  by  man,  boy  by  boy,  servant  by  serv- 
ant :    the  tithe  of  a  hair  was  never  lost  in  my 
house  before. 

Fal.  Ye  He,  hostess  :  Eardolph  was  shaved,  and  lost 
many  a  hair ;  and  I  '11  be  sworn  my  pocket  was 
picked.     Go  to,  you  are  a  woman,  go. 

Host.  Who,  I  ?  no ;  I  defy  thee :  God's  light,  I  was 
never  called  so  in  mine  own  house  before. 

Fal.  Go  to,  I  know  you  well  enough.  70 

Host.  No,  Sir  John ;  you  do  not  know  me,  Sir  John. 
I  know  you,  Sir  John :  you  owe  me  money,  Sir 
John  ;  and  now  you  pick  a  quarrel  to  beguile  me 
of  it :    I  bought  you  a  dozen  of  shirts  to  your 

Fal.  Dowlas,  filthy  dowms :   I  have  given  thema\vay  jL^  ,tcjcQa 
to  bakers'  wives,  and  they  have  made  boltersof  ^ 
them. 

Host.  Now,  as  I  am  a  true  woman,  holland  of  eight 

shillings  an  ell.     You  owe  monpyjie^e  tx^ides^    So 
Sir  John,   for   your  diet   and  Dyannkmgs ,  anu  ^/^"^^^^ 
money  lent  you,  four  and  twenty  pound.  -v^co^Haa. 

Fal  He  had  his  part  of  it ;   let  him  pay.  /tUAot^^ 

Host.  He  ?   alas,  he  is  poor ;   he  hath  nothing. 

Fal.  How  !  poor  ?  look  upon  his  face  ;  what  call  you 
rich  ?  let  him  coin  his  nos^  let  them  ^om  his 
cheeks  •  J  'h  not  pav  at^mier.  Wnaf,  'win  yonf 
make  a  younkeroi  me  ?  shall  I  not  take  mine 
ease  in  mine  inn  but  I  shall  have  my  pocket 
picked?  I  have  lost  a  seal-ring  of  my  grand-  90 
father's  worth  forty  mark. 

99 


2-4- 


Act  III.  Sc.  111.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Host.  O  Jesu,  I  have  heard  the  prince  tell  him,  I 
know  not  how  oft,  that  thaj  ring  was  copper^!, 

Fal.  How !  the  prince  is  a  JacKTa  SSSSLp:  sblood, 
an  he  were  here,  I  would  cudgel  him  like  a  dog, 
if  he  would  say  so. 

Enter  the  Prince  and  Peto,  marching,  and  Falstaif  meets 
*hem  playing  on  his  truncheon  like  a  fife. 

How  now,  lad  !  is  the  wind  in  that  door,  i'  faith  ? 
must  we  all  march  ?  ^ 
_  _   Bard.  Yea,  two  and  two,  Newgate  fashion.  loo 

ouA}t»/e^ost.  My  lord,  I  pray  you,  hear  me. 
li^aSbL  Prince.  What  sayest  thou.  Mistress  Quickly?     How 
^MuJk0tP%»     doth  thy  husband?     I  love  him  well;    he  is  an 
i^*3m^6>'y**^  honest  man. 

'  Host.  Good  my  lord,  hear  me. 

FaL  Prithee,  let  her  alone,  and  list  to  me. 
Prince.  What  sayest  thou,  Jack  ? 
FaL  The  other  night  I  fell  asleep  here  behind  the 
arras,  and  had  my  pocket  picked :    this  house  is 
turned  bawdy-house ;   they  pick  pockets.  no 

Prince.  What  didst  thou  lose.  Jack  ? 
Fal.  Wilt  thou  believe  me,  Hal  ?  three  or  four  bonds 
of  forty  pound  a-piece,  and  a  seal-ring  of  my 
grandfather's. 
Prince.  A  trifle,  some  eight-penny  matter. 
Host.  So  I  told  him,  my  lord ;    and  T  said  I  heard 
your  grace  say  so :  and,  my  lord,  he  speaks  most 
vilely  of  you,  like  a  foul-mouthed  man  as  he  is ; 
and  said  he  would  cudgel  you. 
Prince.  What !  he  did  not  ?  120 

100 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  III.  Sc.  iiL 

Host.  There  's  neither  faith,  truth,  nor  womanhood 

in  me  else.  /' 

Fal.  There  's  no  more  faith  in  thee  than  in  a  stewed  (raH^ 
prune;    nor  no  more  truth  in  thee  than  in__a.  .^a^A^tn-ifi^ 
3  drawnjox;   and  for  WQm^nhood^^Maid  Marian  J^^(jUf^^Unx 
may  be  the  def u^^^^i^'  ot^H^^^o  thee.  ^^j^j^^^^^/K 
Go,  you  thing;  go.  ,  Q,  aix^  ^iaZcM^ 

Host.  Say,  what  thing?  what  thing?  "'^-'^^^^^^^J)  J^. 

Fal.  What  thing!  why,  a  thing  to  thank  God  on.     ^uJLp  ^Ct/ 
Host.  I  am  no  thing  to  thank  God  on,  I  would  thou  130 
shouldst  know  it;    I  am  an  honest  man's  wife: 
and,  setting  thy  knighthood  aside,  thou  art  a 
knave  to  call  me  so. 
Fal.  Setting  thy  womanhood  aside,  thou  art  a  beast 
C  to  say  otherwise. 

sT   ^:    Host.  Say,  what  beast,  thou  knave,  thou? 
^  "^  ,c,FaL  What  beast!   why,  an  otter 


"^tii^. Prince.  An  otter.  Sir  John!   why  an  otter? 
^v  ^pgj^  Why,  she  's  neither  fish  nor  flesh ;  a  man  knows 
j^  'o ^     not  where  to  have  her,  140 

fAost.  Thou  art  an  unjust  man  in  saying  so:  thou  or 
any  man  knows  where  to  have  me,  thou  knave, 
thou! 
Prince.  Thou  sayest  true,  hostess;    and  he  slanders 

thee  most  grossly. 
Host.  So  he  dothvpu,  my  lord;   and  said  this  other 

day  you  ou^u  him  a  thousand  pound. 
Prince.  Sirrah,  do  I  owe  you  a  thousand  pound? 
Fal.  A  thousand  pound,  Hal!   a  million:   thy  love  is 

worth  a  million:    thou  owest  me  thy  love.  150 

Host.  Nay,  my  lord,  he  called  you  Jack,  and  said  he 
would  cudgel  you. 

lOI 


Act  III.  Sc.  iii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Fal  Did  I,  Bardolph? 

Bard.  Indeed,  Sir  John,  you  said  so. 

Fai.  Yea,  if  he  said  my  ring  was  copper. 

Prince.  I  say  'tis  copper:  darest  thou  be  as  good  as 
thy  word  now? 

Fal.  Why,  Hal,  thou  knowest,  as  thou  art  but  man, 
I  dare:  but  as  thou  art  prince,  I  fear  thee  as  I 
fear  the  roaring  of  the  Hon's  whelp.  i6o 

Prince.  And  why  not  as  the  lion? 

Fal.  The  king  himself  is  to  be  feared  as  the  lion: 
dost  thou  think  I  '11  fear  thee  as  I  fear  thy 
father  ?  nay,  an  I  do,  I  pray  God  my  girdle  break. 

Prince.  O,  if  it  should,  how  would  thy  guts  fall  about 
thy  knees!  But,  sirrah,  there's  no  room  for 
faith,  truth,  nor  honesty  in  this  bosom  of  thine; 
it  is  all  filled  up  with  guts  and  midriff.  Charge 
an  honest  woman  \\ath  pickiiigth^-  pocket! 
why,  thou  whoreson,  impudent,'S^Spssea  rascal,  1 70 
if  there  were  anything  in  thy  pocket  but  tavern- 
reckonings,  memorandums  of  bawdy-houses, 
and  one  poor  penny-worth  of  sugar-candy  to 
make  thee  long-winded,  if  thy  pocket  were  en- 
riched with  any  other  injuries  but  these,  I  am  a 
villain:  and  yet  you  will  stand  to  it;  you  will 
not  pocket  up  wrong:    art  thou  not  ashamed? 

Fal.  Dost  thou  hear,  Hal?  thou  knowest  in  the  state 
of  innocency  Adam  fell;  and  what  should  poor 
Jack  Falstaff  do  in  the  days  of  villany?  Thou  180 
seest  I  have  more  flesh  than  another  man;  and 
therefore  more  frailty.  You  confess  then,  you 
picked  my  pocket? 

Prince,  It  appears  so  by  the  story. 

102 


KING  HENRY  IV.  •       Act  III.  Sc.  iii. 

Fal    Hostess,  I  forgive  thee :   go,  make  ready  break- 
fast •    love  thy  husband,  look  to  thy  servants, 
cherish  thy  guests:   thou  shalt  find  me  ^ra^He^ 
to  any  honest  reason :   thou  seest  I  am  pmnm^ 
still      Nay,  prithee,  be  gone.      [Exit  Hostess.] 
Now,  Hal,  to  the  news  at  court :    for  the  rob-  190 
bery,  lad,  how  is  that  answered? 
Prince.  O,  my  sweet  beef,  I  must  still  be  good  angel 

to  thee :  the  money  is  paid  back  agam. 
Fal.  O,  I  do  not  like  that  paying  back ;   'tis  a  double 

labour. 
Prince.  I  am  good  friends  with  my  father,  and  may 

do  any  thing. 
Fal.  Rob  me  the  e.xchequer^figt  thing  thou  doest, 

and  do  it_\vit^?miv^hMhaM 
Bard.  Do,  my  lord.  ^°° 

Prince.  I  have  procured  thee,  Jack,  a  charge  of  foot. 
Fal  I  would  it  had  been  of  horse.  Where  shall  I 
find  one  that  can  steal  well?  O  for  a  fine  thief 
of  the  age  of  two  and  twenty  or  thereabouts! 
I  am  heinously  unprovided.  Well,  God  be 
thanked  for  these  rebels,  they  offend  none  but 
the  virtuous :  I  laud  them,  I  praise  them. 
Prince.  Bardolph! 

Bard.  My  lord? 

Prince.  Go  bear  this  letter  to  Lord  John  of  Lancaster,  210 
to  my  brother  John;  this  to  my  Lord  of  West- 
moreland. [Exit  Bardolph.]  Go,  Peto,  to 
horse,  to  horse ;  for  thou  and  I  have  thirty  miles 
to  ride  yet  ere  dinner  time.  [Exit  Peto.]  Jack, 
meet  me  to-morrow  in  the  Temple  hall  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
103 


Act  IV.  Sc.  i.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

There  shall  thou  know  thv  cl>ar^e,  and  there  receive 
Money  ^^,orxler^v  their  ^xS^V^"^  - -^^"^ 
The  land  is  ^fnmg  ;  T^^rcy  stands  on  high  ; 
And  either  we  or  they  must  lower  lie.  [Exit.  220 

Fal.  Rare  words  !    brave  world !     Hostess,  my  breakfast, 

O,  I  could  wish  this  tavern  were  my  drum!       [Exit. 

ACT  FOURTH,  tf^:^^^^. 

Scene  I. 

The  rgheljamp  near  Shrewsbury. 
Enter  Hotspur,  Worcester,  and  Douglas. 

Hot.  Well  said,  my  noble  Scot :   if  speaking  truth 
In  this  fine  age  were  not  thought  flattery. 
Such  attribution  should  the  Douglas  have. 
As  not  a  soldier  of  this  season's  stamp 
Should  go  so  general  current  through  the  world. 
By  God,  I  cannot  flatter ;   I  do  defy 
The  tongues  of  soothers ;  but  a  braver  place 
In  my  heart's  love  hath  no  man  than  yourself : 
Nay,  task  me  to  my  word ;  approve  me,  lord. 

Doug.  Thou  art  the  king  of  honour  :  10 

No  man  so  potent  breathes  upon  the  ground 
But  I  will  beard  him. 

Hot.  Do  so,  and  'tis  well. 

Enter  a  Messenger  ivith  letters. 

What  letters  hast  thou  here  ? — I  can  but  thank  you. 
Mess.  These  letters  come  from  your  father. 

104 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  IV.  Sc.  i. 

Hot.  Letters  from  him!   why  comes  he  not  himself? 

Mess,  He  cannot  come,  my  lord;   he  is  grievous  sick. 

Hot.  'Zounds!   how  has  he  the  leisure  to  be  sick 
In  such  a  justling  time?    Who  leads  his  power? 
Under  whose  government  come  they  along? 

Mess.  His  letters  bear  his  mind,  not  I,  my  lord.  20 

Wor.  I  prithee,  tell  me,  doth  he  keep  his  bed? 

Mess.  He  did,  my  lord,  four  days  ere  I  set  forth; 
And  at  the  time  of  my  departure  thence 
He  was  much  fear'd  by  his  physicians. 

Wor.  I  would  the  state  of  time  had  first  been  whole, 
Ere  he  by  sickness  had  been  visited: 
His  health  was  never  better  worth  than  now. 

Hot.  Sick  now!   droop  now!   this  sickness  doth  infect 
The  very  life-blood  of  our  enterprise; 
'Tis  catching  hither,  even  to  our  camp.  30 

He  writes  me  here,  that  inward  sickness — 
And  that  his  friends  by  deputation  could  not 
So  soon  be  drawn,  nor  did  he  think  it  meet 
To  lay  so  dangerous  and  dear  a  trust 
On  any  soul  removed  but  on  his  own. 
Yet  doth  he  give  us  bold  advertisement, 
That  with  our  small  conjunction  we  should  on, 
To  see  how  fortune  is  disposed  to  us; 
For,  as  he  writes,  there  is  no  quailing  now, 
Because  the  king  is  certainly  possess'd  40 

Of  all  our  purposes.    What  say  you  to  it? 

Wor.  Your  father's  sickness  is  a  maim  to  us. 

Hot.  A  perilous  gash,  a  very  limb  lopp'd  off: 

And  yet,  in  faith,  it  is  not;   his  present  want 
Seems  more  than  we  shall  find  it :  were  it  good 
To  set  the  exact  wealth  of  all  our  states 

105 


Act  IV.  Sc.  i.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

All  at  one  cast?  to  set  so  rich  a  main 
On  the  nice  hazard  of  one  doubtful  hour? 
It  were  not  good;   for  therein  should  we  read 
The  very  bottom  and  the  soul  of  hope,  50 

The  very  Hst,  the  very  utmost  bound 
Of  all  our  fortunes. 

Doug.  Faith,  and  so  we  should; 

Where  now  remains  a  sweet  reversion: 
We  may  boldly  spend  upon  the  hope  of  what 
Is  to  come  in: 
A  comfort  of  retirement  lives  in  this. 

Hot.  A  rendezvous,  a  home  to  f\y  unto, 

If  that  the  devil  and  mischance  look  big 
Upon  the  maidenhead  of  our  affairs. 

Wor.  But  yet  I  would  your  father  had  been  here.  60 

The  quality  and  hair  of  our  attempt 
Brooks  no  division:   it  will  be  thought 
By  some,  that  know  not  why  he  is  away, 
That  wisdom,  loyalty  and  mere  dislike 
Of  our  proceedings  kept  the  earl  from  hence: 
And  think  how  such  an  apprehension 
May  turn  the  tide  of  fearful  faction, 
And  breed  a  kind  of  question  in  our  cause; 
For  well  you  know  we  of  the  offering  side 
Must  keep  aloof  from  strict  arbitrement,  70 

And  stop  all  sight-holes,  every  loop  from  whence 
The  eye  of  reason  may  pry  in  upon,  us : 
This  absence  of  your  father's  draws  a  curtain. 
That  shows  the  ignorant  a  kind  of  fear 
Before  not  dreamt  of. 

Hot.  You  strain  too  far. 

I  rather  of  his  absence  make  this  use: 
106 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  IV.  Sc.  i. 

It  lends  a  lustre  and  more  great  opinion, 
A  larger  dare  to  our  great  enterprise, 
Than  if  the  earl  were  here;   for  men  must  thmk, 
If  we  without  his  help  can  make  a  head  eo 

To  push  against  a  kingdom,  with  his  help 
We  shall  o'erturn  it  topsy-turvy  down, 
Yet  all  goes  well,  yet  all  our  joints  are  whole. 
Dou^.  As  heart  can  think:   there  is  not  such  a  word 
Spoke  of  in  Scotland  as  this  term  of  fear. 

Enter  Sir  Richard  Vernon. 
Hot.  My  cousin  Vernon!   welcome,  by  my  soul. 
Ver    Pray  God  my  news  be  worth  a  welcome,  lord. 

'The  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  seven  thousand  strong, 
Is  marching  hitherwards ;  with  him  Prmce  John. 

Hot.  No  harm:   what  more? 

y^^  And  further,  I  have  learn  d,  90 

'  The  king  himself  in  person  is  set  forth. 
Or  hitherwards  intended  speedily, 
With  strong  and  mighty  preparation. 
Hot    He  shall  be  welcome  too.    Where  is  his  son, 
The  nimble-footed  madcap  Prince  of  Wales 
And  his  comrades,  that  daff'd  the  world  aside 
And  bid  it  pass? 
y^^  All  furnish'd,  all  in  arms; 

*  M\  plumed  Hke  estridges  that  wing  the  wind; 
Baited  like  eagles  having  lately  bathed; 
-        Glittering  in  golden  coats,  like  images; 
As  full  of  spirit  as  the  month  of  May, 
And  gorgeous  as  the  sun  at  midsummer; 
Wanton  as  youthful  goats,  wild  as  young  bulls. 
I  saw  young  Harry,  with  his  beaver  on, 
107 


ICX) 


Act  IV.  Sc.  i.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

His  cuisses  on  his  thighs,  gallantly  arm'd, 
Rise  from  the  ground  like  feather'd  Mercury, 
And  vaulted  with  such  ease  into  his  seat, 
As  if  an  angel  dropp'd  down  from  the  clouds,  • 
To  turn  and  wind  a  fiery  Pegasus, 
And  witch  the  world  with  noble  horsemanship,    no 
Hot.  No  more,  no  more:  worse  than  the  sun  in  March, 
This  praise  doth  nourish  agues.    Let  them  come; 
They  come  like  sacrifices  in  their  trim, 
And  to  the  fire-eyed  maid  of  smoky  war 
All  hot  and  bleeding  will  we  offer  them: 
The  mailed  Mars  shall  on  his  altar  sit 
Up  to  the  ears  in  blood.     I  am  on  fire 
To  hear  this  rich  reprisal  is  so  nigh 
And  yet  not  ours.    Come,  let  me  taste  my  horse. 
Who  is  to  bear  me  like  a  thunderbolt  120 

Against  the  bosom  of  the  Prince  of  Wales: 
Harry  to  Harry  shall,  hot  horse  to  horse, 
Meet  and  ne'er  part  till  one  drop  down  a  corse. 

0  that  Glendower  were  come! 

Ver.  There  is  more  news: 

1  learn'd  in  Worcester,  as  I  rode  along. 

He  cannot  draw  his  power  this  fourteen  days.    • 

Doug.  That's  the  worst  tidings  that  I  hear  of  yet. 

Wor.  Ay,  by  my  faith,  that  bears  a  frosty  sound. 

Hot.  What  may  the  king's  whole  battle  reach  unto? 

Ver.  To  thirty  thousand. 

Hot.  Forty  let  it  be:  130 

My  father  and  Glendower  being  both  away, 
The  powers  of  us  may  serve  so  great  a  day. 
Come,  let  us  take  a  muster  speedily: 
Doomsday  is  near;   die  all,  die  merrily. 
108 


KING  HENRY  IV. 


Act  IV.  Sc.  ii. 


Dong.  Talk  not  of  dying :   I  am  out  of  fear 

Of  death  or  death's  hand  for  this  one  half  year. 

[Exeunt. 


^^.y^^^ 


^^^' 


yStiMi 


s^ 


A^Jmhlic  road  near  Coventry, 
Enter  Falstaff  and  Bardolph. 


FaL  Bardolph,  get  thee  before  to  Coventry;   fill  me 
n  a    bottle    of    sack :     our    soldiers    shall    march 

o^  through  ;   we  '11  to  Sutton  Co'fil'  to-night. 

yjjkfj^^^j^cii^d.  Will  you  give  me  money,  captain  ? 

Fal.  Lay  out,  lay  out. 
.  ^.         Bard.  This  bottle  makes  an  angel. 

^       FaL  An  if  it  do,  take  it  for  thy  labour  ;  an  if  it  make 
Ix^^  .  twenty,  take  them  all ;    I  '11  answer  the  coinage. 

oy^j^^         Bid  my  lieutenant  Peto  meet  me  at  town's  end. 

Bard.  I  will,  captain  :   farewell.  [Exit.     lo 

Fal.  If  I  be  not  ashamed  of  my  soldiers,   I  am  a\  kucz/ 
P  .<  soused  gurnet.     I  have  misused  the  king's  press  i 

^^^/^^^^v  damnably.     I  have  got,  in  exchange  of  a  hun- 
^aQ^dt^y^  dred  and  fifty  soldiers,  three  hundred  and  odd  ^^    7^     , 
pounds.   I  press  me  none  but  good  householders,  \^^£^<uej2^ 
yeomen's  sons  ;  inquire  me  out  contracted  bache- 
lors, such  as  had  been  asked  twice  on  the  banns ;  */oaj 
such  a  commodity  of  warm  slaves,  as  had  as  lieve/^     f)7^ 
hear  the  devil  as  a  drum  ;  such  as  fear  the  reportWjC^  *^^ 
of  a  caliver  worse  than  a  struck  fowl  or  a  hurt(  20  Cut 
wild-duck.     I  pressed  me  none  but  such  toasts- )q/^;^£^1€^ 
and-butter,  with  hearts  in  their  bellies  no  bigger/ 
than  pins'-heads,  and  they  have  bought  out  their) 
services;  and  now  my  whole  charge  consists  of' 
109 


%3bt^ 


uf^ 


Act  IV.  Sc.  ii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

ancients,  corporals,  lieutenants,  gentlemen  of  com-     .-f^.^f(i>t. 
panics,  slaves  as  ragged  as  Lazarus  in  the  painted^n 
clotli,,  where  the  glutton's  dogs  licked  his  sores  ;^^^p"^^g^ 
and  such  as  indeed  were  never  soldiers,  but  diS'-'^-^^'^jP    C\ 
carded    unjust    serving-men,    younger    sons    to "' 
younger  brothers,  revolted  tapsters,  and  ostlers- 
trade-fallen ;  the  cankers  of  a  calm  world  and  a 
long  peace,  ten  times  more  dishonourable  ragged 
UOU^f-       than  an  old  faceaancient :  and  such  have  I,  to  fill 
>  6cu(MJjS^V  ^^  rooms  of  them  that  have  bought  out  their 
/Tqv    ^      services,  that  you  would  think  that  I  had  a  hun- 
^      ^        dred  and  fifty  tattered  prodigals  lately  come  from 
ry7<!t^i6tiJ*^^ine-keeping,  from  eating  draff  and  husks.     A 
U-d/i^f^   I  mad  fellow  met  me  on  the  way  and  told  me  I  had     „ 
[Lj^jJ^OiM  i-^nloaded  all  the  gibbets  and  pressed  the  dead  (^jQ^^^^^,^_^ 
bodies.    No  eye  hath  seen  such  scare-crowsC^_^^_d^       a/" 
^^-^^     y  notmarch  throughCoventry  with  them,  that  [s  ^hi!4^^^ 
^Jj^  A        flat :  nay,  and  the  villains  march  wide  betwixt  the  /  f^^^^^'^. 
"  .(Kjfj/  legs,  as  if  they  had  gyves  on;    for  indeed  I  had  -f(jX<MM^ 
^a'  A  vJl     the  most  of  them  out  of  prison.     There's  but  a         /t^^ 

t(       ft/^    ^^^^^  ^^*^  ^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  "^^  company ;  and  the  half 

\ /l^  shirt  is  two  napkins  tacked  together  and  thrown 

^  I  over  the  shoulders  like  a  herald's  coat  without 

lA  sleeves ;    and  the  shirt,  to  say  the  truth,  stolen 

from  my  host  at  Saint  Alban's,  or  the  red-nose 

innkeeper    of    Daventry.     But    that 's    all    one ;     50  n 

thev  '11  find  linen  enough  on  everv  hedge.  Muu/Qx  diUz.  iPtSM^J 

Enter  the  Prince  and  Westmoreland, 

Prince.  How  now,  blown  Jack !   how  now,  quilt ! 
FaL  What,  Hal !   how  now,  mad  wag !   what  a  devil 
dost  thou  in  Warwickshire?    My  good  Lord  of 
no 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  IV.  Sc.  ii. 

Westmoreland,  I  cry  you  mercy :   I  thought  your 

honour  had  already  been  at  Shrewsbury. 
IV est.  Faith,  Sir  John,  'tis  more  than  time  that  I  were 

there,  and  you  too ;    but  my  powers  are  there 

already.     The  king,  I  can  tell  you,  looks  for  us 

all :   we  must  away  all  night.  60 

Fal.  Tut,  never  fear  me :   I  am  as  vigilant  as  a  cat  to 

steal  cream. 
Prince.  I  think,  to  steal  cream  indeed,  for  thy  theft 

hath   already   made   thee  butter.     But   tell   me, 

Jack,  whose  fellows  are  these  that  come  after? 
Fal.  Mine,  Hal,  mine. 

Prince.  I  did  never  see  such  pitiful  rascals. 
Fal.  Tut,  tut ;  good  enough  to  toss  ;  food  for  powder, 

food  for  powder ;    they  '11  fill  a  pit  as  well  as 

better:   tush,  man,  mortal  men,  mortal  men.  70 

West.  Ay,  but,  Sir  John,  methinks  they  are  exceeding 

poor  and  bare,  too  beggarly. 
Fal.  Faith,  for  their  poverty,  I  know  not  where  they 

had  that ;  and  for  their  bareness,  I  am  sure  they 

never  learned  that  of  me. 
Prince.  No,   I  '11  be   sworn ;    unless   you  call  three 

fingers    on    the    ribs    bare.     But,    sirrah,    make 

haste :    Percy  is  already  in  the  field. 
Fal.  What,  is  the  king  encamped? 

West.  He  is.  Sir  John :  I  fear  we  shall  stay  too  long.     80 
FaL  Well, 

To  the  latter  end  of  a  fray  and  the  beginning  of  a 
feast 

Fits  a  dull  fighter  and  a  keen  guest.  [Exeunt. 


Ill 


Act  IV.  Sc.  iii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Scene  III. 

The  rebel  camp  near  Shrewsbury. 
Enter  Hotspur,  Worcester,  Douglas,  and  Vernon. 

Hot.  We  '11  fight  with  him  to-night. 

Wor.  It  may  not  be. 

Doug.  You  give  him  then  advantage. 

Ver,  Not  a  whit. 

Hot.  Why  say  you  so?   looks  he  not  for  supply? 

Ver.  So  do  we. 

Hot.  His  is  certain,  ours  is  doubtful. 

Wor.  Good  cousin,  be  advised ;   stir  not  to-night. 

Ver.  Do  not,  my  lord. 

Doug.  You  do  not  counsel  well : 

You  speak  it  out  of  fear  and  cold  heart. 

Ver.  Do  me  no  slander,  Douglas :  by  my  life, 
And  I  dare  well  maintain  it  with  my  life, 
If  well-respected  honour  bid  me  on,  lo 

I  hold  as  little  counsel  with  weak  fear 
As  you,  my  lord,  or  any  Scot  that  this  day  lives : 
Let  it  be  seen  to-morrow  in  the  battle 
Which  of  us  fears. 

Doug.  Yea,  or  to-night. 

Ver.  Content. 

Hot.  To-night,  say  I. 

Ver.  Come,  come,  it  may  not  be.     I  wonder  much, 
Being  men  of  such  great  leading  as  you  are, 
That  you  foresee  not  what  impediments 
Drag  back  our  expedition :   certain  horse 
Of  my  cousin  Vernon's  are  not  yet  come  up :  20 

Your  uncle  Worcester's  horse  came  but  to-day ; 
'  And  now  their  pride  and  mettle  is  asleep, 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  IV.  Sc.  iii. 

Their  courage  with  hard  labour  tame  and  dull, 
That  not  a  horse  is  half  the  half  of  himself. 

Hot.  So  are  the  horses  of  the  enemy 

In  general,  journey-bated  and  brought  low: 
The  better  part  of  ours  are  full  of  rest. 

Wor.  The  number  of  the  king  exceedeth  ours; 
For  God's  sake,  cousin,  stay  till  all  come  in. 

[The  trumpet  sounds  a  parley. 

Enter  Sir  iValtcr  Blunt. 

Blunt.  I  come  with  gracious  offers  from  the  king,        30 
If  you  vouchsafe  me  hearing  and  respect. 

Hot.  Welcome,  Sir  Walter  Blunt;   and  would  to  God 
You  were  of  our  determination! 
Some  of  us  love  you  well;  and  even  those  some 
Envy  your  great  deservings  and  good  name, 
Because  you  are  not  of  our  quahty. 
But  stand  against  us  like  an  enemy. 

Blunt.  And  God  defend  but  still  I  should  stand  so, 
So  long  as  out  of  limit  and  true  rule 
You  stand  against  anointed  majesty.  40 

But  to  my  charge.    The  king  hath  sent  to  know 
The  nature  of  your  griefs,  and  whereupon 
You  conjure  from  the  breast  of  civil  peace 
Such  bold  hostility,  teaching  his  duteous  land 
Audacious  cruelty.    If  that  the  king 
Have  any  way  your  good  deserts  forgot, 
Which  he  confesseth  to  be  manifold. 
He  bids  you  name  your  griefs;  and  with  all  speed 
You  shall  have  your  desires  with  interest. 
And  pardon  absolute  for  yourself  and  these  5^ 

Herein  misled  by  your  suggestion, 

113 


Act  IV.  Sc.  iii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Hot.  The  king  is  kind ;  and  well  we  know  the  king 
Kno^vs  at  what  time  to  promise,  when  to  pay; 
My  father  and  my  uncle  and  myself 
Did  give  him  that  same  royalty  he  wears; 
And  when  he  was  not  six  and  twenty  strong. 
Sick  in  the  world's  regard,  wretched  and  low, 
A  poor  unminded  outlaw  sneaking  home. 
My  father  gave  him  welcome  to  the  shore; 
And  when  he  heard  him  swear  and  vow  to  God      60 
He  came  but  to  be  Duke  of  Lancaster, 
To  sue  his  Hvery  and  beg  his  peace. 
With  tears  of  innocency  and  terms  of  zeal, 
My  father,  in  kind  heart  and  pity  moved, 
Swore  him  assistance  and  perform'd  it  too. 
Now  when  the  lords  and  barons  of  the  realm 
Perceived  Northumberland  did  lean  to  him, 
The  more  and  less  came  in  with  cap  and  knee; 
Met  him  in  boroughs,  cities,  villages, 
Attended  him  on  bridges,  stood  in  lanes,  70 

Laid  gifts  before  him,  proi^er'd  him  their  oaths, 
Gave  him  their  heirs,  as  pages  follow'd  him 
Even  at  the  heels  in  golden  multitudes. 
He  presently,  as  greatness  knows  itself. 
Steps  me  a  little  higher  than  his  vow 
Made  to  my  father,  while  his  blood  was  poor, 
Upon  the  naked  shore  at  Ravenspurgh; 
And  now,  forsooth,  takes  on  him  to  reform 
Some  certain  edicts  and  some  strait  decrees 
That  lie  too  heavy  on  the  commonwealth,  80 

Cries  out  upon  abuses,  seems  to  weep 
Over  his  country's  wrongs;   and  by  this  face, 
This  seeming  brow  of  justice,  did  he  win 
114 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  IV.  Sc.  Hi. 

The  hearts  of  all  that  he  did  angle  for; 
Proceeded  further;   cut  me  off  the  heads 
Of  all  the  favourites  that  the  absent  king 
In  deputation  left  behind  him  here, 
When  he  was  personal  in  the  Irish  war. 

Blunt.  Tut,  I  came  not  to  hear  this. 

Hot.  Then  to  the  point. 

In  short  time  after,  he  deposed  the  king;  90 

Soon  after  that,  deprived  him  of  his  life; 
And  in  the  neck  of  that,  task'd  the  whole  state; 
To  make  that  worse,  suf¥er'd  his  kinsman  March, 
Who  is,  if  every  owner  were  well  placed, 
Indeed  his  king,  to  be  engaged  in  Wales, 
There  without  ransom  to  lie  forfeited; 
Disgraced  me  in  my  happy  victories, 
Sought  to  entrap  me  by  intelligence; 
Rated  mine  uncle  from  the  council-board; 
In  rage  dismiss'd  my  father  from  the  court;         100 
Broke  oath  on  oath,  committed  wrong  on  wrong, 
And  in  conclusion  drove  us  to  seek  out 
This  head  of  safety,  and  withal  to  pry 
Into  his  title,  the  which  we  find 
Too  indirect  for  long  continuance. 

Blunt.  Shall  I  return  this  answer  to  the  king? 

Hot.  Not  so.  Sir  Walter:    we'll  withdraw  a  while. 
Go  to  the  king;   and  let  there  be  impawn'd 
Some  surety  for  a  safe  return  again. 
And  in  the  morning  early  shall  mine  uncle  no 

Bring  him  our  purposes:   and  so  farewell. 

Blunt.  I  would  you  would  accept  of  grace  and  love. 

Hot.  And  may  be  so  we  shall. 

Blunt.  Pray  God  you  do.  [Exeunt. 

"5 


Act  IV.  Sc.  iv.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

York.     The  Archbishop' s  palace. 
Enter  the  Archbishop  of  York  and  Sir  Michael, 

Arch.  Hie,  good  Sir  Michael;  bear  this  sealed  brief 
With  winged  haste  to  the  lord  marshal; 
This  to  my  cousin  Scroop,  and  all  the  rest 
To  whom  they  are  directed.     If  yon  knew 
How  much  they  do  import,  you  would  make  haste. 

Sir  M.  My  good  lord, 
I  guess  their  tenour. 

Arch.  Like  enough  you  do. 

To-morrow,  good  Sir  Michael,  is  a  day 
Wherein  the  fortune  of  ten  thousand  men 
Must  bide  the  touch;   for,  sir,  at  Shrewsbury,         lo 
As  I  am  truly  given  to  understand. 
The  king  with  mighty  and  quick-raised  power 
Meets  with  Lord  Harry:   and,  I  fear.  Sir  Michael, 
What  with  the  sickness  of  Northumberland, 
Whose  power  was  in  the  first  proportion. 
And  what  with  Owen  Glendower's  absence  thence, 
Who  with  them  was  a  rated  sinew  too 
And  comes  not  in,  o'er-ruled  by  prophecies, 
I  fear  the  power  of  Percy  is  too  weak 
To  wage  an  instant  trial  with  the  king.  20 

Sir  M.  Why,  my  good  lord,  you  need  not  fear; 
There  is  Douglas  and  Lord  Mortimer. 

Arch.  No,  Mortimer  is  not  there. 

Sir  M.  But  there  is  Mordake,  Vernon,  Lord  Harry  Percy, 
And  there  is  my  Lord  of  Worcester  and  a  head 
Of  gallant  warriors,  noble  gentlemen. 

Arch.  And  so  there  is:  but  yet  the  king  hath  drawn 

116 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  V.  Sc.  i. 

The  special  head  of  all  the  land  together: 
The  Prince  of  Wales,  Lord  John  of  Lancaster, 
The  noble  Westmoreland  and  warhke  Blunt;        30 
And  many  mo  corrivals  and  dear  men 
Of  estimation  and  command  in  arms. 

Sir  M.  Doubt  not,  my  lord,  they  shall  be  well  opposed. 

Arch.  I  hope  no  less,  yet  needful  'tis  to  fear; 

And,  to  prevent  the  worst.  Sir  Michael,  speed: 

For  if  Lord  Percy  thrive  not,  ere  the  king 

Dismiss  his  power,  he  means  to  visit  us, 

For  he  hath  heard  of  our  confederacy, 

And  'tis  but  wisdom  to  make  strong  against  him: 

Therefore  make  haste.    I  must  go  write  again       40 

To  other  friends;  and  so  farewell,  Sir  Michael. 

[Exeunt. 

ACT   FIFTH.  ., 

Scene  I.  Mj^ujcj^/  T^ -  ^^(/ ^  , 

The  King's  camp  near  Shrewsbury.     ^^^ 

Enter  the  King,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  Lord  John  of 
Lancaster,  Sir  Walter  Blunt,  and  Falstaif. 

King.  How  bloodily  the  sun  begins  to  peer 

Above  yon  busky  hill !   the  day  looks  pale 

At  his  distemperature. 
Prince.  The  southern  wind 

Doth  play  the  trumpet  to  his  purposes, 

And  by  his  hollow  whistling  in  the  leaves 

Foretells  a  tempest  and  a  blustering  day. 
King.  Then  with  the  losers  let  it  sympathise, 

For  nothing  can  seem  foul  to  those  that  win. 

[The  trumpet  sounds. 

117 


Act  V.  Sc.  i.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Enter  Worcester  and  Vernon. 

How  now,  my  Lord  of  Worcester!  'tis  not  well 

That  you  and  I  should  meet  upon  such  terms         lo 

As  now  we  meet.    You  have  deceived  our  trust, 

And  made  us  doff  our  easy  robes  of  peace, 

To  crush  our  old  Hmbs  in  ungentle  steel: 

This  is  not  well,  my  lord,  this  is  not  well. 

What  say  you  to  it?  will  you  again  unknit 

This  churlish  knot  of  all-abhorred  war? 

And  move  in  that  obedient  orb  again 

Where  you  did  give  a  fair  and  natural  light. 

And  be  no  more  an  exhaled  meteor, 

A  prodigy  of  fear,  and  a  portent  20 

Of  broached  mischief  to  the  unborn  times? 

War.  Hear  me,  my  liege: 

For  mine  own  part,  I  could  be  well  content 

To  entertain  the  lag-end  of  my  life 

With  quiet  hours;   for,  I  do  protest, 

I  have  not  sought  the  day  of  this  dislike. 

King.  You  have  not  sought  it!  how  comes  it,  then? 

Fal.  Rebellion  lay  in  his  way,  and  he  found  it. 

Prince.  Peace,  chewet,  peace! 

War.  It  pleased  your  majesty  to  turn  your  looks  30 

Of  favour  from  myself  and  all  our  house; 
And  yet  I  must  remember  you,  my  lord. 
We  were  the  first  and  dearest  of  your  friends. 
For  you  my  staff  of  ofiftce  did  I  break 
In  Richard's  time;   and  posted  day  and  night 
To  meet  you  on  the  way,  and  kiss  your  hand. 
When  yet  you  were  in  place  and  in  account 
Nothing  so  strong  and  fortunate  as  I. 

118 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  V.  Sc.  i. 

It  was  myself,  my  brother,  and  his  son, 
That  brought  you  home,  and  boldly  did  outdare  40 
The  dangers  of  the  time.    You  swore  to  us. 
And  you  did  swear  that  oath  at  Doncaster, 
That  you  did  nothing  purpose  'gainst  the  state; 
Nor  claim  no  further  than  your  new-fall'n  right, 
The  seat  of  Gaunt,  dukedom  of  Lancaster: 
To  this  we  swore  our  aid.    But  in  short  space 
It  rain'd  down  fortune  showering  on  your  head; 
And  such  a  flood  of  greatness  fell  on  you. 
What  with  our  help,  what  with  the  absent  king, 
What  with  the  injuries  of  a  wanton  time,  50 

The  seeming  sufferances  that  you  had  borne, 
And  the  contrarious  winds  that  held  the  king 
So  long  in  his  unlucky  Irish  wars 
That  all  in  England  did  repute  him  dead: 
And  from  this  swarm  of  fair  advantages 
You  took  occasion  to  be  quickly  woo'd 
To  gripe  the  general  sway  into  your  hand; 
Forgot  your  oath  to  us  at  Doncaster; 
And  being  fed  by  us  you  used  us  so 
As  that  ungentle  gull,  the  cuckoo's  bird,  60 

Useth  the  sparrow;   did  oppress  our  nest; 
Grew  by  our  feeding  to  so  great  a  bulk 
That  even  our  love  durst  not  come  near  your  sight 
For  fear  of  swallowing;  but  with  nimble  wing 
We  were  enforced,  for  safety  sake,  to  fly 
Out  of  your  sight  and  raise  this  present  head; 
Whereby  we  stand  opposed  by  such  means 
As  you  yourself  have  forged  against  yourself, 
By  unkind  usage,  dangerous  countenance. 
And  violation  of  all  faith  and  troth  70 

119 


Act  V.  Sc.  i.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Sworn  to  us  in  your  younger  enterprise. 

King.  These  things  indeed  you  have  articulate, 

Proclaim'd  at  market  crosses,  read  in  churches, 

To  face  the  garment  of  rebellion 

With  some  fine  colour  that  may  please  the  eye 

Of  fickle  changelings  and  poor  discontents, 

Which  gape  and  rub  the  elbow  at  the  news 

Of  hurlyburly  innovation: 

And  never  yet  did  insurrection  want 

Such  water-colours  to  impaint  his  cause;  80 

Nor  moody  beggars,  starving  for  a  time 

Of  pellmell  havoc  and  confusion. 

Prince.  In  both  your  armies  there  is  many  a  soul 
Shall  pay  full  dearly  for  this  encounter. 
If  once  they  join  in  trial.    Tell  your  nephew. 
The  Prince  of  Wales  doth  join  with  all  the  world 
In  praise  of  Henry  Percy:   by  my  hopes. 
This  present  enterprise  set  ofif  his  head, 
I  do  not  think  a  braver  gentleman. 
More  active-valiant  or  more  valiant-young,  90 

More  daring  or  more  bold,  is  now  alive 
To  grace  this  latter  age  with  noble  deeds. 
For  my  part,  I  may  speak  it  to  my  shame, 
I  have  a  truant  been  to  chivalry; 
And  so  I  hear  he  doth  account  me  too; 
Yet  this  before  my  father's  majesty — 
I  am  content  that  he  shall  take  the  odds 
Of  his  great  name  and  estimation, 
And  will,  to  save  the  blood  on  either  side. 
Try  fortune  with  him  in  a  single  fight.  100 

King.  And,  Prince  of  Wales,  so  dare  we  venture  thee, 
Albeit  considerations  infinite 

120 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  V.  Sc.  i. 

Do  make  against  it.    No,  good  Worcester,  no. 

We  love  our  people  well;   even  those  we  love 

That  are  misled  upon  your  cousin's  part; 

And,  will  they  take  the  offer  of  our  grace, 

Both  he  and  they  and  you,  yea,  every  man 

Shall  be  my  friend  again  and  I  '11  be  his: 

So  tell  your  cousin,  and  bring  me  word 

What  he  will  do:   but  if  he  will  not  yield,  no 

Rebuke  and  dread  correction  wait  on  us 

And  they  shall  do  their  office.    So,  be  gone; 

We  will  not  now  be  troubled  with  reply: 

We  offer  fair;   take  it  advisedly. 

[Exeunt  Worcester  and  Vernon, 

Prince.  It  will  not  be  accepted,  on  my  life: 

The  Douglas  and  the  Hotspur  both  together 
Are  confident  against  the  world  in  arms. 

King.  Hence,  therefore,  every  leader  to  his  charge; 
For,  on  their  answer,  will  we  set  on  them: 
l^.nd  God  befriend  us,  as  our  cause  is  just!   ■         120 
[Exeunt  all  hut  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  Falstaff. 

Pal.  Hal,  if  thou  see  me  down  in  the  battle,  and  be- 
stride me,  so;   'tis  a  point  of  friendship. 

Prince.  Nothing  but  a   colossus   can  do  thee  that 
friendship.    Say  thy  prayers,  and  farewell. 

Pal.  I  would  'twere  bed-time,  Hal,  and  all  well. 

Prince.  Why,  thou  owest  God  a  death.  [Exit. 

Pal.  'Tis  not  due  yet;     I  would  be  loath  to  pay  him|  o 

before  his  day.     What  need  I  be  so  forward!    li^O 
with  him  that  calls  not  on  me?     Well,  'tis  no  ^^ 

matter;    honour  pricks  me  on.     Yea.  but  how    130 
if  honour  prick  me  off  when  I  come  on?    how 
then?    Can  honour  set  to  a  leg?  no:  or  an  arm? 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

no:  or  take  away  the  grief  of  a  wound?  no. 
Honour  hath  no  skill  in  surgery,  then?  no. 
-^  I  What  is  honour?  a  word.  What  is  in  that 
word  honour?  what  is  that  honour?  air.  A 
trim  reckoning !  Who  hath  it  ?  he  that  died 
o'  Wednesday.  Doth  he  feel  it?  no.  Doth 
he  hear  it?  no.  'Tis  insensible,  then?  yea,  to 
the  dead.  But  will  it  not  live  with  the  living?  140 
no.     W^hy  ?  detraction  will  not  suffer  it.     There- 

'-*-*^"^^^-'^       fore  I  '11  none  of  it.     Honour  is  a  mere^^cut; 

A&xjU2cP  '  cheon  :   and  so  ends  my  catechism.  [Exit. 

Scene  II. 

The  rebel  camp. 
Enter  Worcester  and  Vernon. 

War.  O,  no,  my  nephew  must  not  know.  Sir  Richard, 
The  liberal  and  kind  offer  of  the  king. 

Ver.  'Twere  best  he  did. 

Wor.  Then  are  we  all  undone. 

It  is  not  possible,  it  cannot  be, 
The  king  should  keep  his  word  in  loving  us; 
He  will  suspect  us  still,  and  find  a  time 
To  punish  this  offence  in  other  faults: 
Suspicion  all  our  lives  shall  be  stuck  full  of  eyes; 
For  treason  is  but  trusted  like  the  fox, 
Who,  ne'er  so  tame,  so  cherish'd  and  lock'd  up,    10 
Will  have  a  wild  trick  of  his  ancestors. 
Look  how  we  can,  or  sad  or  merrily, 
Interpretation  wiU  misquote  our  looks, 
And  we  shall  feed  like  oxen  at  a  stall, 
The  better  cherish'd,  still  the  nearer  death. 
122 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

My  nephew's  trespass  may  be  well  forgot; 
It  hath  the  excuse  of  youth  and  heat  of  blood; 
And  an  adopted  name  of  privilege,  / 

A  hare-brain'd  Hotspur,  govern'd  by  a  ^pl^^frrt^^^*''^^ 
All  his  offences  live  upon  my  head  20 

And  on  his  father's;  we  did  train  him  on, 
And,  his  corruption  being  ta'en  from  us, 
We,  as  the  spring  of  all,  shall  pay  for  all. 
Therefore,  good  cousin,  let  not  Harry  know, 
In  any  case,  the  offer  of  the  king. 
Ver,  Deliver  what  you  will;   I  '11  say  'tis  so,  ., 

Here  comes  your  cousin. 

Enter  Hotspur  and  Douglas. 

Hot.  My  uncle  is  return'd: 

Deliver  up  my  Lord  of  Westmoreland. 

Uncle,  what  news?  30 

Wor.  The  king  will  bid  you  battle  presently. 

Doug.  Defy  him  by  the  Lord  of  Westmoreland. 

Hot.  Lord  Douglas,  go  you  and  tell  him  so. 

Doug.  Marry,  and  shall,  and  very  willingly.  [Exit. 

Wor.  There  is  no  seeming  mercy  in  the  king. 

Hot.  Did  you  beg  any?    God  forbid! 

IVor.  I  told  him  gently  of  our  grievances. 

Of  his  oath-breaking;   which  he  mended  thus, 
By  now  forswearing  that  he  is  forsworn: 
He  calls  us  rebels,  traitors;  and  will  scourge  40 

With  haughty  arms  this  hateful  name  in  us. 

Re-enter  Douglas. 

Doug.  Arm,  gentlemen;  to  arms!  for  I  have  thrown 
A  brave  defiance  in  King  Henry's  teeth, 

123 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

And  Westmoreland,  that  was  engaged,  did  bear  it; 
Which  cannot  choose  but  bring  him  quickly  on. 

Wvr.  The  Prince  of  Wales  stepp'd  forth  before  the  king, 
And,  nephew,  challenged  you  to  single  fight. 

Hot.  O,  would  the  quarrel  lay  upon  our  heads, 

And  that  no  man  might  draw  short  breath  to-day 
But  I  and  Harry  Monmouth!    Tell  me,  tell  me,    50 
How  show'd  his  tasking?  seem'd  it  in  contempt? 

Ver,  No,  by  my  soul;   I  never  in  my  life 

Did  hear  a  challenge  urged  more  modestly, 

Unless  a  brother  should  a  brother  dare 

To  gentle  exercise  and  proof  of  arms. 

He  gave  you  all  the  duties  of  a  man; 

Trimm'd  up  your  praises  with  a  princely  tongue, 

Spoke  your  deservings  Hke  a  chronicle. 

Making  you  ever  better  than  his  praise 

By  still  dispraising  praise  valued  with  you;  60 

And,  which  became  him  like  a  prince  indeed, 

He  made  a  blushing  cital  of  himself; 

And  chid  his  truant  youth  with  such  a  grace 

As  if  he  master'd  there  a  double  spirit 

Of  teaching  and  of  learning  instantly.' 

There  did  he  pause:  but  let  me  tell  the  world. 

If  he  outlive  the  envy  of  this  day, 

England  did  never  owe  so  sweet  a  hope. 

So  much  misconstrued  in  his  wantonness. 

L^of.  Cousin,  I  think  thou  art  enamoured  73 

On  his  follies :  never  did  I  hear 
Of  any  prince  so  wild  a  libertine. 
But  be  he  as  he  will,  yet  once  ere  night 
I  will  embrace  him  with  a  soldier's  arm, 
That  he  shall  shrink  under  my  courtesy, 
124 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

Arm,  arm  with  speed:  and,  fellows,  soldiers,  friends, 
Better  consider  what  you  have  to  do 
Than  I,  that  have  not  well  the  gift  of  tongue, 
Can  lift  your  blood  up  with  persuasion. 

Enter  a  Messenger, 

Mess.  My  lord,  here  are  letters  for  you.  80 

Hot.  I  cannot  read  them  now. 

O  gentlemen,  the  time  of  Hfe  is  short! 

To  spend  that  shortness  basely  were  too  long, 

If  life  did  ride  upon  a  dial's  point. 

Still  ending  at  the  arrival  of  an  hour.  » 

An  if  we  live,  we  live  to  tread  on  kings ; 

If  die,  brave  death,  when  princes  die  with  us! 

Now,  for  our  consciences,  the  arms  are  fair. 

When  the  intent  of  bearing  them  is  just. 

Enter  another  Messenger. 

Mess.  My  lord,  prepare;  the  king  comes  on  apace.      90 
Hot.  I  thank  him,  that  he  cuts  me  from  my  tale, 

For  I  profess  not  talking;    only  this — 

Let  each  man  do  his  best:  and  here  draw  I 

A  sword,  whose  temper  I  intend  to  stain 

With  the  best  blood  that  I  can  meet  withal 

In  the  adventure  of  this  perilous  day. 

Now,  Esperance!     Percy!    and  set  on. 

Sound  all  the  lofty  instruments  of  war. 

And  by  that  music  let  us  all  embrace; 

For,  heaven  to  earth,  some  of  us  never  shall  100 

A  second  time  do  such  a  courtesy. 
[The  trumpets  sound.     They  embrace,  and  exeunt. 


Act  V.  Sc.  iii.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Scene  III. 

Plain  between  the  camps. 

The  King  enters  zvith  his  pozver.     Alarum  to  the  battle. 
Then  enter  Douglas  and  Sir  Walter  Blunt. 

Blunt.  What  is  thy  name,  that  in  the  battle  thus 

Thou  Grossest  me?  what  honour  dost  thou  seek 
Upon  my  head? 

Doug.  Know  then,  my  name  is  Douglas ; 

And  I  do  haunt  thee  in  the  battle  thus, 
Because  some  tell  me  that  thou  art  a  king. 

Blunt.  They  tell  thee  true. 

Doug.  The  Lord  of  Stafford  dear  to-day  hath  bought 
Thy  Hkeness ;   for  instead  of  thee.  King  Harry, 
This  sword  hath  ended  him:   so  shall  it  thee, 
Unless  thou  yield  thee  as  my  prisoner.  lo 

Blunt.  I  was  not  born  a  yielder,  thou  proud  Scot; 
And  thou  shalt  find  a  king  that  will  revenge 
Lord  Stafford's  death. 

[They  fight.     Douglas  kills  Blunt. 

Enter  Hotspur. 

Hot.  O  Douglas,  hadst  thou  fought  at  Holmedon  thus, 

I  never  had  triumph'd  upon  a  Scot. 
Doug.   All 's  done,  all 's  won ;  here  breathless  lies  the  king. 
Hot.  Where? 
Doug.  Here. 
Hot.  This,  Douglas?  no:   I  know  this  face  full  well: 

A  gallant  knight  he  was,  his  name  was  Blunt;        23 

Semblably  furnish'd  like  the  king  himself. 
Doug.  A  fool  go  with  thy  soul,  whither  it  goes! 

A  borrowed  title  hast  thou  bought  too  dear: 

126 


\i-t 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  V.  Sc.  iii. 

Why  didst  thou  tell  me  that  thou  wert  a  king? 
Hot.  The  king  hath  many  marching  in  his  coats. 
Doug.  Now,  by  my  sword,  I  will  kill  all  his  coats ; 

I  '11  murder  all  his  wardrobe,  piece  by  piece, 

Until  I  meet  the  king. 
Hot.  Up,  and  away ! 

Our  soldiers  stand  full  fairly  for  the  day.       [Exeunt. 

Alarum.     Enter  Falstaff,  solus. 

Fal.  Though  I  could  'scape  shot-free  at  London,  I     30 

Ifear  the  shot  here ;  here  's  no  scoring  but  upon 
the  pate.  Soft!  who  are  you?  Sir  Walter 
Blunt :  there  's  honour  for  you !  here 's  no 
vanity !  I  am  as  hot  as  molten  lead,  and  as  heavy 
too :  God  keep  lead  out  of  me !  I  need  no  more 
weight  than  mine  own  bowels.  I  have  led  rny  ^  ()  ^  jr  «// 
ragamuffins  where  they  are  peppered :    there  's  y\j 

not  three"of  my  hundred  and  fifty  left  alive  ;  and  ^x6^<x.  r 
they  are  for  the  town's  end,  to  beg  during  hfe.  ^jmjmjdi 
But  who  comes  here?  40  " 

Enter  the  Prince. 

Prince.   W^hat,  stand'st  thou  idle  here  ?  lend  me  thy  sword  ! 

Many  a  nobleman  lies  stark  and  stiff 

Under  the  hoofs  of  vaunting  enemies, 

Whose  deaths  are  yet  unrevenged :    I  prithee,  lend 
me  thy  sword. 
Pal.  O  Hal,   I  prithee,  give  me  leave  to  breathe  a 

while.     Turk  Gregory  never  did  such  deeds  in 

arms   as   I   have   done   this   day.     I   have   paid 

Percy,  I  have  made  him  sure. 
Prince.  He  is,   indeed ;    and  living  to  kill  thee.     I 

prithee,  lend  me  thy  sword.  50 

127 


Act  V.  Sc.  iv.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Fal.  Nay,  before  God,  Hal,  if  Percy  be  alive,  thou 
get'st  not  my  sword ;  but  take  my  pistol,  if  thou 
wilt. 

Prince.  Give  it  me :  what,  is  it  in  the  case  ? 

Fal.  Ay,  Hal;  'tis  hot,  'tis  hot;  there's  that  will 
sack  a  city. 

{The  Prince  draws  it  out,  and  finds  it  to  he  a  bottle  of  sack. 

Prince.  What,  is  it  a  time  to  jest  and  dally  now? 

[He  throws  the  bottle  at  him.     Exit. 

Fal.  Well,  if  Percy  be  alive,  I  '11  pierce  him.  If  he 
do  come  in  my  way,  so :  if  he  do  not,  if  I  come 
in  his  willingly,  let  him  make  a  carbonado  of  me.  60 
I  like  not  such  grinning  honour  as  Sir  Walter 
hath :  give  me  life :  which  if  I  can  save,  so ;  if 
not,  honour  comes  unlocked  for,  and  there  's  an 
end.  [Exit. 

Scene   IV. 

Another  part  of  the  Held. 

Alarum.     Excursions.     Enter  the  King,  the  Prince,  Lord 
John  of  Lancaster,  and  Earl  of  Westmoreland. 

King.  I  prithee, 

Harry,  withdraw  thyself ;  thou  bleed'st  too  much. 

Lord  John  of  Lancaster,  go  you  with  him. 
Layi.  Not  I,  my  lord,  unless  I  did  bleed  too. 
Prince,  I  beseech  your  majesty,  make  up, 

Lest  your  retirement  do  amaze  your  friends. 
King.  I  will  do  so. 

My  Lord  of  Westmoreland,  lead  him  to  his  tent. 
West.  Come,  my  lord,  I  '11  lead  you  to  your  tent. 
Prince.  Lead  me,  my  lord?  I  do  not  need  your  help  :      10 

128 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  V.  Sc.  iv. 

And  God  forbid  a  shallow  scratch  should  drive 
The  Prince  of  Wales  from  such  a  field  as  this, 
Where  stain'd  nobility  lies  trodden  on, 
And  rebels'  arms  triumph  in  massacres ! 

Lan.  We  breathe  too  long :   come,  cousin  Westmoreland, 

Our  duty  this  way  lies ;   for  God's  sake,  come. 

[Exeunt  Prince  John  and  Westmoreland. 
Prince.  By  God,  thou  hast  deceived  me,  Lancaster ; 

I  did  not  think  thee  lord  of  such  a  spirit ; 

Before,  I  loved  thee  as  a  brother,  John ; 

But  now,  I  do  respect  thee  as  my  soul.  20 

King.  I  saw  him  hold  Lord  Percy  at  the  point, 

With  lustier  maintenance  than  I  did  look  for 

Of  such  an  ungrown  warrior. 
Prince.  O,  this  boy 

Lends  mettle  to  us  all !  [Exit. 

Enter  Douglas. 

Doug.  Another  king !   they  grow  like  Hydra's  heads : 
I  am  the  Douglas,  fatal  to  all  those 
That  wear  those  colours  on  them  :  what  art  thou. 
That  counterfeit's  the  person  of  a  king? 

K.  Hen.  The   king   himself ;    who,   Douglas,    grieves   at 
heart 
So  many  of  his  shadows  thou  hast  met  30 

And  not  the  very  king.     I  have  two  boys 
Seek  Percy  and  thyself  about  the  field : 
But,  seeing  thou  fall'st  on  me  so  luckily, 
I  will  assay  thee :    so,  defend  thyself. 

Doug.  I  fear  thou  art  another  counterfeit ; 

And  ye't,  in  faith,  thou  bear'st  thee  like  a  king: 
But  mine  I  am  sure  thou  art,  whoe'er  thou  be, 
129 


Act  V.  Sc.  iv.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

And  thus  I  win  thee. 

[They  Ught;  the  King  being  in  danger, 
re-enter  Prince  of  Wales. 

Prince.  Hold  up  thy  head,  vile  Scot,  or  thou  art  Uke 

Never  to  hold  it  up  again !  the  spirits  40 

Of  valiant  Shirley,  Stafford,  Blunt,  are  in  my  arms ; 
It  is  the  Prince  of  Wales  that  threatens  thee ; 
Who  never  promiseth  but  he  means  to  pay. 

[They  Ught.     Douglas  flies. 
Cheerly,  my  lord :   how  fares  your  grace  ? 
Sir  Nicholas  Gawsey  hath  for  succour  sent, 
And  so  hath  Clifton :   I  '11  to  Clifton  straight. 

King.  Stay,  and  breathe  awhile : 

Thou  hast  redeem'd  thy  lost  opinion^ 

And  show'd  thou  makest  some  tender  of  my  life, 

In  this  fair  rescue  thou  hast  brought  to  me.  50 

Prince.  O  God!    they  did  me  too  much  injury 
That  ever  said  I  hearken'd  for  your  death. 
If  it  were  so,  I  might  have  let  alone 
The  insulting  hand  of  Douglas  over  you, 
Which  would  have  been  as  speedy  in  your  end 
As  all  the  poisonous  potions  in  the  world. 
And  saved  the  treacherous  labour  of  your  son. 

King.  Make  up  to  Clifton :  I  '11  to  Sir  Nicholas  Gawsey. 

[Exit. 

Enter  Hotspur. 

Hot.  If  I  mistake  not,  thou  art  Harry  Monmouth. 
Prince.  Thou  speak'st  as  if  I  would  deny  my  name.        60 
Hot.  My  name  is  Harry  Percy. 
Prince.  Why,  then  I  see 

A  very  valiant  rebel  of  the  name. 

I  am  the  Prince  of  Wales  ;  and  think  not,  Percy, 

130 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  V.  Sc.  iv. 

To  share  with  me  in  glory  any  more : 
Two  stars  keep  not  their  motion  in  one  sphere ; 
Nor  can  one  England  brook  a  double  reign, 
Of  Harry  Percy  and  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

Hot.   Nor  shall  it,  Harry  ;   for  the  hour  is  come 
To  end  the  one  of  us ;   and  would  to  God 
Thy  name  in  arms  were  now  as  great  as  mine !        70 

Prince.  I  "11  make  it  greater  ere  I  part  from  thee ; 
And  all  the  budding  honours  on  thy  crest 
I  '11  crop,  to  make  a  garland  for  my  head. 

Hot.  I  can  no  longer  brook  thy  vanities.  [They  fight. 

Enter  Falstaff. 

Fal.  Well  said,  Hal !  to  it,  Hal !     Nay,  you  shall  find 
no  boy's  play  here,  I  can  tell  you. 

Re-enter  Douglas:  he  fights  zi'ifJi  Falstaff,  zvho  falls 

dozitn,  as  if  he  zvere  dead,  and  exit  Douglas. 

Hotspur  is  zvoiinded,  and  falls. 

Hot.  O,  Harry,  thou  hast  robb'd  me  of  my  youth ! 
I  better  brook  the  loss  of  brittle  life 
Than  those  proud  titles  thou  hast  won  of  me ; 
They  wound  mv  thoughts  worse  than  thv  sword  m\ 
flesh:  '  '  8c 

But  thought 's  the  slave  of  life,  and  life  time's  fool ; 
And  time,  that  takes  survey  of  all  the  world, 
Must  have  a  stop.     O,  I  could  prophesy, 
But  that  the  earthy  and  cold  hand  of  death 
Lies  on  my  tongue :   no,  Percy,  thou  art  dust, 
And  food  for —  [Dies. 

Prince.  For  worms,  brave  Percy;    fare  thee  well,  great 
heart ! 

131 


Act  V.  Sc.  iv.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Ill-weaved  ambition,  how  much  art  thou  shrunk ! 

When  that  this  body  did  contain  a  spirit, 

A  kingdom  for  it  was  too  small  a  bound ;  90 

But  now  two  paces  of  the  vilest  earth 

Is  room  enough :   this  earth  that  bears  thee  dead 

Bears  not  alive  so  stout  a  gentleman. 

If  thou  wert  sensible  of  courtesy, 

I  should  not  make  so  dear  a  show  of  zeal : 

But  let  my  favours  hide  thy  mangled  face ; 

And,  even  in  thy  behalf,  I  '11  thank  myself 

For  doing  these  fair  rites  of  tenderness. 

Adieu,  and  take  thy  praise  with  thee  to  heaven ! 

Thy  ignomy  sleep  with  thee  in  the  grave,  100 

But  not  remember'd  in  thy  epitaph ! 

[He  spicth  Fahtaff  on  the  ground. 
What,  old  acquaintance !   could  not  all  this  flesh 
Keep  in  a  little  life  ?     Poor  Jack,  farewell ! 
I  could  have  better  spared  a  better  man : 
O,  I  should  have  a  heavy  miss  of  thee, 
If  I  were  much  in  love  with  vanity ! 
Death  hath  not  struck  so  fat  a  deer  to-day, 
Though  many  dearer,  in  this  bloody  fray. 
Embowell'd  will  I  see  thee  by  and  by : 
Till  then  in  blood  by  noble  Percy  lie.         [Exit,     no 
Fal.   [Rising  tip]   Embowelled!   if  thou  embowel  me 
to-day,  I  '11  give  you  leave  to  powder  me  and 
eat  me  too  to-morrow.     'Sblood  'twas  time  to 
counterfeit,  or  that  hot  termagant  Scot  had  paid 
me  scot  and  lot  too.     Counterfeit?     I  lie,  I  am 
no  counterfeit :  to  die,  is  to  be  a  counterfeit ;  for 
he  is  but  the  counterfeit  of  a  man  who  hath  not 
the  life  of  a  man  :  but  to  counterfeit  dying,  when 
132 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  V.  Sc.  iv. 

a  man  thereby  liveth,  is  to  be  no  counterfeit,  but 
the  true  and  perfect  image  of  Ufe  indeed.  The  120 
better  part  of  valour  is  discretion  ;  in  the  which 
better  part  I  have  saved  my  Ufe.  'Zounds,  I  am 
afraid  of  this  gunpowder  Percy,  though  he  be 
dead :  how,  if  he  should  counterfeit  too,  and 
rise?  by  my  faith,  I  am  afraid  he  would  prove 
the  better  counterfeit.  Therefore  I  '11  make  him 
sure ;  yea,  and  I  '11  swear  I  killed  him.  Why 
may  he  not  rise  as  well  as  I  ?  Nothing  confutes 
me  but  eyes,  and  nobody  sees  me.  Therefore, 
sirrah  [stabbing  him],  with  a  new  wound  in  your  130 
thigh,  come  you  along  with  me. 

[Takes  up  Hotspur  on  his  back. 

Re-enter  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  Lord  John  of  Lancaster. 

Prince.   Come, brother  John;  full  bravely  hast  thou  flesh'd 
Thy  maiden  sword. 

Lan.  But.  soft!   whom  have  we  here? 

Did  you  not  tell  me  this  fat  man  was  dead? 

Prince.  I  did  ;    I  saw  him  dead. 

Breathless  and  bleeding  on  the  ground.     Art  thou 

alive? 
Or  is  it  fantasy  that  plays  upon  our  eyesight? 
I  prithee,  speak ;   we  will  not  trust  our  eyes 
Without  our  ears :  thou  art  not  what  thou  seem'st. 

Fal.  No,  that 's  certain  ;  I  am  not  a  double  man  :  but  141 
if  I  be  not  Jack  Falstafif,  then  am  I  a  Jack. 
There  is  Percy  [throiving  the  body  dozvn]  :  if 
your  father  will  do  me  any  honour,  so ;  if  not, 
let  him  kill  the  next  Percy  himself.  I  look  to 
be  either  earl  or  duke,  I  can  assure  you, 

^33 


Act  V.  Sc.  iv.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Prince.  Why,  Percy  I  killed  myself,  and  saw  thee  dead. 

Fal.  Didst  thou?  Lord,  Lord,  how  this  world  is 
given  to  lying!  I  grant  you  I  was  down  and 
out  of  breath;  and  so  was  he:  but  we  rose  both  150 
at  an  instant,  and  fought  a  long  hour  by  Shrews- 
bury clock.  If  I  may  be  beheved,  so;  if  not, 
let  them  that  should  reward  valour  bear  the  sin 
upon  their  own  heads.  I  '11  take  it  upon  my 
death,  I  gave  him  this  wound  in  the  thigh :  if  the 
man  were  alive,  and  would  deny  it,  'zounds,  I 
would  make  him  eat  a  piece  of  my  sword. 

Lan.  This  is  the  strangest  tale  that  ever  I  heard. 

Prince.  This  is  the  strangest  fellow,  brother  John. 

Come,  bring  your  luggage  nobly  on  your  back :      160 
For  my  part,  if  a  lie  may  do  thee  grace, 
I  '11  gild  it  with  the  happiest  terms  1  have. 

[A  retreat  is  sounded. 
The  trumpet  sounds  retreat ;   the  day  is  ours. 
Come,  brother,  let  us  to  the  highest  of  the  field, 
To  see  what  friends  are  living,  who  are  dead. 

[Exeunt  Prince  of  Wales  and  Lancaster. 

Fal.  I  '11  follow,  as  they  say,  for  reward.  He  that 
rewards  me,  God  reward  him!  If  I  do  grow 
great,  I  '11  grow  less ;  for  I  '11  purge,  and  leave 
sack,  and  live  cleanly  as  a  nobleman  should  do. 

[Exit. 


134 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Act  V.  Sc.  v. 

Scene  V, 

Another  part  of  the  Held. 

The  trumpets  sound.  Enter  the  King,  Prince  of  Wales, 
Lord  John  of  Lancaster,  Earl  of  IVestmoreland,  zvith 
Worcester  and  Vernon  prisoners. 

King.  Thus  ever  did  rebellion  find  rebuke. 

Ill-spirited  Worcester !   did  not  we  send  grace, 
Pardon  and  terms  of  love  to  all  of  you  ? 
And  wouldst  thou  turn  our  offers  contrary? 
Misuse  the  tenour  of  thy  kinsman's  trust? 
Three  knights  upon  our  party  slain  to-day, 
A  noble  earl  and  many  a  creature  else 
Had  been  alive  this  hour, 
If  like  a  Christian  thou  hadst  truly  borne 
Betwixt  our  armies  true  intelligence.  lo 

IV or.  What  I  have  done  my  safety  urged  me  to; 
And  I  embrace  this  fortune  patiently, 
Since  not  to  be  avoided  it  falls  on  me. 
King.  Bear  Worcester  to  the  death,  and  Vernon  too ; 
Other  oft'enders  we  will  pause  upon. 

[Exeunt  Worcester  and  Vernon,  guarded. 
How  goes  the  field? 
Ffince.  The  noble  Scot,  Lord  Douglas,  when  he  saw 
The  fortune  of  the  day  quite  turn'd  from  him, 
The  noble  Percy  slain,  and  all  his  men 
Upon  the  foot  of  fear,  fled  with  the  rest ;  20 

And  falling  from  a  hill,  he  was  so  bruised 
That  the  pursuers  took  him.     At  my  tent 
The  Douglas  is ;   and  I  beseech  your  grace 
I  may  dispose  of  him. 
King,  With  all  my  heart. 

135 


Act  V.  Sc.  V.  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

Prince.  Then,  brother  John  of  Lancaster,  to  you 
This  honourable  bounty  shall  belong : 
Go  to  the  Douglas,  and  deliver  him 
Up  to  his  pleasure,  ransomless  and  free : 
His  valour  shown  upon  our  crests  to-day 
Hath  taught  us  how  to  cherish  such  high  deeds      30 
Even  in  the  bosom  of  our  adversaries. 

Lan.  I  thank  your  grace  for  this  high  courtesy, 
Which  I  shall  give  away  immediately. 

King.  Then  this  remains,  that  we  divide  our  power. 
You,  son  John,  and  my  cousin  Westmoreland 
Towards  York  shall  bendyouv/ithyour  clearest  speed, 
To  meet  Northumberland  and  the  prelate  Scroop, 
Who,  as  we  hear,  are  busily  in  arms : 
Myself  and  you,  son  Harry,  will  towards  Wales, 
To  fight  wdth  Glen  dower  and  the  Earl  of  March.    40 
RebeUion  in  this  land  shall  lose  his  sway, 
Meeting  the  check  of  such  another  day  : 
And  since  this  business  so  fair  is  done, 
Let  us  not  leave  till  all  our  own  be  won.        [Exeunt, 


13^ 


KING  HENRY  IV. 


Glossary. 


Advised,  guided  by  advice;  IV. 
iii.  5. 
l^Affections,  inclinations;  III.  ii. 
30. 
^Against ;   "against   his   name,"; 
contrary  to  the  dignity  of  his 
royal  name;   III.ii.65. 
i^ Allhallozim   summer,   i.e.    sum- 
mer weather  at  the  beginning 
of     winter ;      "spring     at 
Michaelmas  "      ("  Allhallow- 
mas  "  is  on  the  first  of  No- 
vember), in  ridicule  of  Fal- 
staff's    youthful    frivolity    at 
his  advanced  age ;  I.  ii.  168. 
L^^  Amamon,   the    name   of   a   de- 
mon ;  II.  iv.  358. 

Amaze,  throw  into  disorder; 
V.  iv.  6. 

Ancients,  ensigns.  IV.  ii.  25 ; 
"ancient"  standard;  IV.  ii. 
33. 

Angel,  a  coin  with  the  figure  of 


ing     the     dragon     with     his 
spear;  its  value  varied  from 


six  shillings  and  eight  pence 
lo  ten  shillings;  IV.  ii.  6. 
Anon,  anon!  coming!  II.  i.  5. 


l^^'^dmiral,  admiral's  ship  with  a 

lantern  in  the  stern;  III.  iii. 

28.  «^ 

l^^dvantage,  leisure,  II.  iv.  S94',i\-  Anszver,  repay;  I.  iii.  185. 

interest,  II.  iv.  585;   favour- ^»y  zvay,  either  way,  on  either 

able  opportunity.  III.  ii.  180.  '  '       t  •  ^ 

X^Adz'crtisenicnt,        information^^  Ape 

news,    III.    ii.    172;    counsel, 

IV.  i.  36. 


at 


quick 


side  ;  I.  i.  61. 
ace,     quickly, 
pace ;  V.  ii.  90. 
^pple-john,  a  variety  of  apple 
that    shrivels    with   keeping; 

III.  iii.  5. 
^Appointment,  equipment;  I.  ii. 

185. 
^Apprehends,      imagines,      con- 
ceives ;  I.  iii.  209. 
Approve  me,  prove  me,  try  me ; 

IV.  i.  9. 

Arbitrement,   judicial    inquiry; 
IV.  i.  70. 

.Argiwtent,  subject  for  conver- 
sation ;  II.  ii.  98. 
.^.Arras,    hangings    of    tapestry ; 
n.iv.535-     ^^ 

Articulate  :=■  articulated,  spec- 
ified, enumerated  (Folios, 
"  articulated  ")  ;  V.  i.  72. 
t^spects,  an  astrological  term ; 
influence  of  a  planet  for  good 
or  ill;  I.  i.97. 

Assay     tJiee,    try     thee,     cross 
swords  with  thee ;  V.  iv.  34. 


the  archangel  Michael  pierc-  ^'At  hand,  quoth  pick-purse,'  a 

proverbial  expression;   II.  i. 

52. 


137 


Glossary 


THE  FIRST  PART  OF 


i^Athwart,  adversely,   as  though   [Base,       wicked,        treacherous 


♦^' 


to   thwart   one's   purpose ;    I. 
/  i-36. 

'Attempts,  pursuits;  III.  ii.  13. 
Attended,   waited   for;    IV.   iii. 

70. 
Attribution,  praise;  IV.  i.  3. 
Ky^Auditor,  an  officer  of  the  Ex- 


chequer; I.  i.  62^ 
Azvay;  "a.  all'night"    (so  the 


(Quartos,  "bare ")  ;  I. 
108. 
^^asilisks,  a  kind  of  large  can- 
non ;  originally  a  fabulous 
animal  whose  look  was  sup- 
posed to  be  fatal ;  II.  iii.  56. 
(Illustration  in  Cymbeline.) 
'A'^Bastard,   sweet    Spanish   wine ; 


Quartos)  ?=  march  all  night ;/    i>'a/f.    fall    off,    grow    thinner; 


(Folios,   "a.  all  to-night"); 

IV.  ii.  60 
.  y^y,  ivhenf    canst  tell?'  pro 
v^      verbial      phrase 
V       scorn;  II.  i.  42. 


U^Back;      "turned      back,"      i.e. 
turned  their  back,  fled;  I.  ii. 

-    193- 
ly  Back,  mount ;  II.  iii.  74. 

.BaMe,     "originally    a    punish- 
^  ment  of  infamy,  inflicted  on 
recreant  knights,  one  part  of 
which  was  hanging  them  up 
by  the  heels  "  (Nares)  ;  I.  ii. 
108. 
\y    Bagpipe;  "  the  Lincolnshire  b.," 
a     favourite     instrument     in 
Lincolnshire ;     a     proverbial 
expression  ;  I.  ii.  82. 
Baited,  v.  Note  ;  IV.  i.  99. 
^^^alk'd,       heaped,       piled       up 
("  balk  "  =  "  ridge,"  common 
^    in  Warwickshire)  ;  I.  i.  69. 
^Ballad-mongers,    contemptuous 
name   for   "ballad-makers"; 
III.  i.  130. 
t^^Bands,  bonds;  III.  ii.  I57- 

Banish' d,  lost,   exiled    (Collier 
MS.  "tarnish'd")  ;  I.  iii.  181. 


II.  iv.  30. 


III.  iii.  2. 
Battle,  armed  force,  army;  IV. 

i.  129. 
expressing   \^avin,  brushwood,   soon  burn- 
ing out;  III.  ii.  61. 
iJ^Bears  hard,  feels  deeply;  I.  iii. 
270. 
Beaver,  properly  the  lower  part 
of  the  helmet  (marked  X  in 
accompanying     illustration), 
as     distinguished     from    the 
visor  or   upper  part.     Often 
used    of    the    whole    helmet; 

IV.  i.  104. 


Helmet  with  visor  thrown  up  and 
beaver  down,  i.  e.  in  its  natural  posi- 
tion. From  Douce's  Illustrations 
of  Shakespeare. 


i.?8 


KING  HENRY  IV. 


Glossary 


\::''^ecome,   adorn,    do   credit   to ; 

II.  iv.  531. 
L'^^eguiling,    cheating*.,    robbing ; 

III.  i.  189. 

C^^cldani,  aged  grandmother ; 
III.  i.  32. 

^■"-^cside,  beyond;  III.  i.  179. 

Bestride    me,     defend    me    by 

standing  over  my  body ;  V.  i. 

122. 

B'ide,  abide,  endure ;  IV.  iv.  10.' 

"^/^lue-caps,  "  a  name  of  ridicule 
given  to  the  Scots  from  their 
blue  bonnets  " ;  II.  iv.  379. 

i-'^^Bolters,  sieves  for  meal;  III. 
iii.  77. 

t^:f>^olting-liutch,  a  bin  into  which 
meal  is  bolted;  II.  iv.  480. 

I — "Lombard,  a  large  leathern  ves- 
sel   for    holding   liquors ;    II. 
iv.  482.     (Illustration  in  The 
/^^^  Tempest.) 

^-'^'^  Bombast;  originally  cotton 
used  as  stuffing  for  clothes; 
II.  iv.  347. 
BonHre-light,  fire  kindled  in 
the  open  air  (originally,  a 
bone-fire  :  Quarto  i,  "  bone- 
fire  light";  Quarto  2,  "  bon- 
■fire  light";  Quartos  3,  4, 
"  bone-ftre  light " ;  the  rest 
"  Bone-nre-light");  III.  iii. 
46.  _ 
^"""^^Book,  indentures  ;  III.  i.  224. 

{/^Bootless,  without  profit  or  ad- 
vantage ;  III.  i.  67. 

t^^^'Boots,  booty;  with  play  upon 
the  literal  sense  of  "  boots  "  ; 

^  II.  i.90. 

L^ Bosom,  secret  thoughts,  confi- 
dence ;  I.  iii.  266. 


^^; 


L>^^ 


^-^r. 


\^ 


'"  Bots,  small  worms  ;  II.  i.  10. 
^^ottom,  low-lying  land,  valley ; 
III.  i.  105. 

rack,  a  female  hound ;  III.  i. 
240. 
^^'Brave,  fine  ;  I.  ii.  69. 

rawn,  mass  of  flesh ;    II.  iv. 
120. 
Kl^^Sreak  zvith,  broach  the  subject 
to  ;    III.  i.  144. 

reathe,  take  breath  (Folios  2, 
3.  4,  "break")  ;  II. iv.  17. 
^nrcathed,      paused      to      take 
breath ;  I.  iii.  102. 
Breiuer's  horse'  ;   a  disputed 
point,  probably  equivalent  to 
malt-horse,    a    term    of    con- 
tempt for  a  dull  heavy  beast ; 
III.  iii.  10. 
Brief,  letter,  short  writing;  IV. 
iv.  I. 
l>B^ring   in,'  the   call    for   more 

wine ;  I.  ii.  40. 
i/^isk,  smart ;  I.  iii.  54. 
^-"Bruising;   "  b.  arms,"  probably 
arms  cramping  and  bruising 
the  wearers  ;  III.  ii.  105. 

ram,  coarse  linen  stiffened 
with  glue;  I.  ii.  189. 
^-^uffets;  "  go  to  b."  =  come  to 

blows;  II.  iii.  35. 
,  '^Jiwff  jerkin,  a  jacket   of  buff- 
leather,  worn  by  sheriffs'  offi- 
cers ;  I.  ii.  46. 

timing,  alight  with  war;  III. 
iii.  219. 
Busky,  bosky  (Quarto  i, 
"bulky");  V.i.2. 
'^By-drinkings,  drinks  at  odd 
times,  betv/een  meals ;  III.  iii. 
81. 


\y^ucki 


l^Bi 


139 


Glossary  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

{y^By  God,  soft";  an  exclama-  ^^ates,  delicacies;  III.  i.  163. 


/        tion    (Folios,    "soft,   I   pray 
ye  ")  ;  II.  i.  39- 

\M^^addis- garter,  garter  made   of 

worsted  ribbon  ;  II.  iv.  78. 

Ca7?V^;-j  corruption  of  caliber,  a 

light  kind  of  musket ;  IV.  ii.20. 

^■^andy,   sugared,    sweet ;    I.   iii. 

251. 

i^^Canker,  dog-rose,  wild  rose ;  I. 
iii.  176. 


Cavil,  quarrel,  find  fault ;   III. 
i.  140. 
*^ess,  measure ;  II.  i.  7. 
Changing,    exchanging;    I.    iii. 

lOI. 

*^^Charge,  cost,  expense,  I.  i.  35, 
III.  i.  112;  baggage,  II.  i.  50; 
command,  II.  iv.  582. 
^Charles'  ivain,  the  Great  Bear ; 
II.  i.  2. 
^^dhat,  chatter;  I.  iii.  65. 
L^Canker^d,     venomous,      malig-  \yCheap;  "as  good  c,"  as  good 


nant ;  I.  iii.  137. 
Cankers,  canker-worms ;  IV.  ii. 

31. 
L^Canstick,  old  spelling  and  pro- 
nunciation     of      candlestick 
(Folios,  ''  candlestick  ")  ;  III. 
i-i3i- 


X^Cantle,  piece  (Quartos,  "scan-  i^hristen.  Christian   (Quartos  5 


tie")  ;  III.  i.  100. 
'  Cap  and  knee,'  doffing  of  cap 


and  bending  of  knee;  IV.  iii.    ythuffs,  churlish  misers,   II 


68. 
\y^Capering,      leaping,      skipping 
(Quarto    i,    "  capring"  \    the 


,  rest  "carping")  ;  III.  ii.  62,21\/ciap  fo,  shut;  II.  iv.  296. 
'^Capital,  principal;  Ill.ii.  no.      ^'^Clipp'd  in,  enclosed,  encircled; 


K^  Capitulate,  form  a  league;  III. 
ii.   120. 
Carbonado,  meat  cut  across  to 
be  broiled ;  V.  iii.  60. 
i^arded,  v.  Note ;  III.  ii.  62. 
\yl^!art,  vehicle  in  which  a  crimi- 
nal was  borne  to  execution ; 
II.  iv.  531- 
\y'Case  ye,  mask  your  faces ;  II. 


\y 


>i.  54. 
SyCaterpillars,  men  who  feed  up-      £omiit-niaker,        confectioner; 


on  the  wealth  of  the  country ; 
II.  ii.  86. 


a  bargain ;  III.  iii.  50. 
Chewet,  chough,  probably  jack- 
daw (used  generally  in 
sense  of  mince-pie)  ;  V.  i.  29. 
U?fwps,  mass  of  flesh  resem- 
bling meat;  a  term  of  con- 
tempt; I.  ii.  144. 


6.  7,  8,  "  Christian  "  ;  omitted 
in  Folios)  ;  II.  iv.  8. 


Cital,  mention,   citation ;   V.  ii. 
/  62. 


III.  i.  44. 
Close,   grapple,    hand    to   hand 

fight ;  I.  i.  13. 
Cloudy  men,  men  with  cloudy 
;      looks  ;  III.  ii.  83. 
i^ock,  cockcrow ;  II.  i.  19. 
Colour,  give  a  specious  appear- 
ance to;  I.  iii.  109. 
^^olt,  befool ;  II.  ii.  39. 
l^Come  near  me,  hit  me;  I.  ii.  14. 


jn.  i.  253. 

I/Commodity,  supply  ;  I.  ii.  89. 


KING  HENRY  IV. 


Glossary 


L-''^Vommon-hackney'd, 
ised;  III.  ii.  40. 
"ommonzvealtli,      used 
blingly;    II.  i.  88. 


vulgar-V-'CoM.yzw,  kinsman  ;  I.  iii.  292, 

\,JSiSzeners,  deceivers  (used  quib- 
blingly)  ;   I.  iii.  255. 


quib- 


^^-^oninnmity,  commonness,   fre 
quency ;  III.  ii.  77. 

^-'Comparative,  "  a  dealer  m  com- 
parisons, one  who  affects 
wit";   III.  ii.  67. 

t^^<=^ — ,  full  of  comparisons ;  I.  ii. 
86. 

^^  Compass;  "in  good  c."  with- 
in reasonable  limits ;  III.  iii. 
22. 

l^^oncealments,    secrets    of    na- 
ture;  III.  i.  167. 
i^^ondition,  natural  disposition; 

I.  iii.  6. 
i'^onduct,  escort;  III.  i.  92. 

..^'Confound,   spend,   wear  away; 
I.  iii.  100. 
Conjunction,   assembled   force ; 

L^    IV.i'.37. 

Contagious,  baneful;  I.  ii.  208. 
Contracted,  engaged  to  be  mar- 
ried; IV.  ii.  16. 
[Corinthian,  spirited  fellow ;  II. 

iv.  12. 
i^^orpse,  corpses   (Quarto  i  and 
Folios  I,  2,  "  corpes 

43. 
Correction,   punishment;    V.    i. 

III. 
L^orrival,   rival,    competitor ;    I. 

iii.  207. 
i^'Couching,       couchant,        lying 

down     (the  heraldic    term)  ; 

III.  i.  153. 
Countenance,    patronage,    with 
play    upon    literal    sense    of 
wordrT.  ii.  32  ;^anction,  III. 
ii.  65  ;    bearing,  V.  i.  69. 


l^Cranking,     winding,     bending; 
III.  i.  98. 
^r^ressets,  open  lamps  or  burn- 
ers, set  up  as  beacons,  or  car- 
ried on  poles;  III.  i.  15. 


From  a  specimen  preserved  in  the 
Tower  of  London. 


ni. 


curled,    rippled ;    I. 
contradictions;   III 


^-erisp, 
106. 
)  ;  I.  i.  i\^r  OS  sings, 
i.  36. 
Crozvn,  enthrone;  III.  i.  217. 
^Crystal  button,  generally  worn 
upon  the  jerkin  of  vintners; 
II.  iv.  76. 
Cuckoo's  bird,  the  young  of  the 

cuckoo ;  V.  i.  60. 
Cuisses,  armour  for  the  thighs 
(Quartos      and      Folios, 
"  cushes")  ;  IV.  i.  105. 
^^ulverin,  a  kind  of  cannon;  II. 
iii.  56. 

141 


Glossary 


THE  FIRST  PART  OF 


^'■"'"'^CurbSj      restrains,      holds      in 
check;  III.  i.  171. 
\y^ut,  the  name  of  a  horse ;  II. 
i-  5- 

Daif'd,  put  aside,  doffed  (Quar- 
tos and  FoHos  "  daft");lY. 
196. 
^'^amm'd,  stopped  up,  enclosed 
(Quartos  i,  2,  6  and  Folios, 
"  danind")  ;  III.  i.  loi. 
Dangerous,  indicating  danger; 
V.  i.  69. 
'\^Dank,  damp  ;  II.  i.  8. 
Dare,  daring ;  IV.  i.  78. 
Daventry,    a    town    in    North- 
amptonshire ;  commonly  pro- 
nounced "  Dahntry  "    (Quar- 
tos 1-5,  "  Dauintry  "  ;   Quar- 
tos 6,  7,  8,  "  Daintry,"  etc.)  ; 
IV.  ii.  50. 
Dear,   eagerly   desired,   urgent, 
l^-  i-  33 ;    worthy,   valued,    IV. 
iv.  31- 
^^^~Dearest,  best ;  III.  i.  182. 
Defend,  forbid ;  IV.  iii.  38. 
Defy,    renounce,    abjure^^I.  iii. 

228 ;  despise,  IV.  i.  6. 
Deliver,  report ;  V.  ii.  26. 
4  ^^eliver'd,  related,  reported ;  I. 

m.  26. 
ly Denier,  the   smallest   coin,   the 
tenth  part  of  a  penny;   III. 
iii.  87. 
y^Deyiy,  refuse;  I.  iii.  29. 

Deputation;   "in  d.,"  as  depu- 
ties ;  IV.  iii.  87. 
l^Deputy  of  the  ward,  local  po- 
y      lice    ofificer  ;    III.  iii.  126. 
^  Devil  rides  upon  a  fiddle-stick, 
a       proverbial        expression, 
probably    derived    from    the 


puritanic  denunciation  of 
music,  and  meaning,  "  here  's 
much  ado  about  nothing"; 
llAv.  521.  (See  Notes.) 
Revised,  untrue,  forged ;  III.  ii. 
23. 
Discarded,    dismissed ;    IV.    ii. 

28. 
Discontents,  malcontents;  V.  i. 

76. 

^-"iMsdain'd,  disdainful;  I.  iii.  183. 
Dislike,  discord,  dissension  ;  V. 
i.  26. 
'^disputation,  conversation ;   III. 

J.  206. 
"^^istempcrature,   disorder ;    III. 

V^ivide    myself,    cut    myself    in 

half;    II.  iii.  35. 
\^i'^ision,    modulation ;     III.    i, 
211. 
Doff,  put  off;  V.  i.  12. 
^^^oubt,  suspect,   fear;   I.  ii.  191. 
ty'Dozulas,  a  kind  of  coarse  linen ; 
III.  iii.  76. 
Draff,  refuse  of  food,  given  to 

swine ;  IV.  ii.  37. 
Drawn,  gathered  together,  col- 
^^^ected;  IV.  i.  33- 
'    Draimi    Fox,    "  a    fox    scented 
and  driven  from  cover ;  such 
a  one  being  supposed  to  be 
full  of  tricks  ";  III.  iii.  125. 
Draws,  draws  back;  IV.  i.  73. 
Dread,    awful,    terrible ;    V.    i. 
III. 
\J/  Drench,   mixture   of  bran   and 
Avater  ;  II.  iv.  117. 
yvrone,    "  the    largest    tube    of 
the   bagpipe,    which    emits   a 
hoarse  sound  resembling  that 
of  the  drone  bee  " ;  I.  ii.  82. 


142 


KING  HENRY  IV. 


Glossary 


^■^rowzed,  looked  sleepily;   III. 
ii.  8i. 

L'^rum,  an  allusion  probably  to 
the   enlisting   of   soldiers 
the    beating    of    the    drum; 
hence,        perhaps,        rallying 
point;  III.  iii.  223. 

I -Durance,  a   strong  material  of 

which  prisoners'  clothes  were 
made  ;  called  also  "  everlast- 
ing "  ;    used  quibblingly  ;  I.  ii. 

47- 
Duties,  (?)  dues,  (?)  homage; 
V.  ii.  56. 

'^  Eastcheap,  a  "  cheap  "  or  mar- 
ket,  in  the  east  of   London, 
noted    for    its    eating-houses 
and  taverns;   I.  ii.  138. 
t^^cce  signum,  here  's  the  proof ; 
^^^11.  iv.  182. 
^"■"""Embossed,  swoolen  :  III.  iii.  170. 
Emhowell'd,    i.e.    for    embalm- 
ing; V.  iv.  109. 
L-'-'^ifeoff'd    himself,    gave    him- 
self up  entirely    (Quartos  6, 
7,    8,    "  enforc't")  ;    III.    ii. 

69. 
Engaged,    detained   as   hostage 
(Pope,  "encaged")  ;  IV.  iii. 

95- 
^'"Engross  up,  amass   {up,  inten- 
sive)   (Quartos  i,  2,  and  Fo- 
lios, "  up  "  ;  the  rest,  "  my  ")  ; 
III.  ii.  148. 
(-"Enlarged,   set   free;   III.  ii.  115. 
Enlargement,  escape  ;   III.  i.  31. 
Entertain,  pass  peaceably ;  V.  i.' 

24- 
Envy,  malice,  enmity  ;  V.  ii.  67. 
\  /  Equity,  justice,  fairness;  II.  ii. 

^    103. 


■^sperance,    the    motto    of    the 
Percy  family,  and  their  bat- 
tle-cry; II.  iii.  74. 
hy^^^stimation,     conjecture;     I.  iii. 
^^272. 
^KEstridges,  ostriches;  IV.  i.  98. 
Even,   modestly,   prudently;    I. 
iii.  285. 
i^Ex halations,    meteors;    II.    iv. 

340- 
^'Expectation,    promise;    II.    iii. 

20. 
^ -Expedience,  expedition;  I.  i.  33. 
l-^'e   of  death,   look  of   deadly 

terror;  I.  iii.  143. 


Face,  trim,  set  off ;  V.  i.  74. 
lector,  agent;   III.  ii.  147. 
t^tl  off,  prove  faithless;  I.  iii. 

^'rather,    father-in-law ;    III.    i. 

^'"^thom-line,   lead    line;    I.    iii. 

204. 

^at      room,    probably       "vat- 
room"  ;  II.  iv.  I. 
/Fat-zvitted,  heavy  witted,  dull ; 

I.  ii.  2. 

I  ^-'FWi'oiu's,  a  scarf  or  glove  given 
by  a  lady  to  her  knight,  V. 
iv.    96;     features     (Hanmer 
"  favour  "=  face)  ',      perhaps 
"  decorations     usually     worn 
^^by  knights  in  their  helmets," 
III.  ii.  136. 
Fear'd,  feared  for  ;  IV.  i.  24. 
^^Fettrfully,  in  fear  ;  I.  iii.  105. 
\,^Fe€n-s,  the  objects  of  our  fears; 
I.  iii.  87. 
l\,^^eds;  "  f.  him."  i.e.  feeds  him- 
self;  III.  ii.  180. 


143 


Glossary 

\y^eeling,  carried  on  by  touch, 
with  play  upon  the  word 
(Folios  2,  3,  4,  ''feeble"); 
III.  i.  206. 

i^ Fellow,  neighbour,  companion ; 
11.  ii.  III. 
yrern-seed;  "  the  receipt  of  f.," 
i.e.  the  receipt  for  gathering 
fern-seed;  according  to  pop- 
ular superstition  these  seeds 
were  invisible,  and  any  one 
who  could  gather  them  was 
himself     rendered     invisible ; 

..II.i.QS. 

Figures,  shapes  created  by  the 
imagination  ;   I.  iii.  209. 
^^Finshury,   the    common    resort 
of   citizens,   just  outside   the 
,    walls;  III.  i.  257. 
Fleece,  plunder  them ;  II.  ii.  88. 
Flesh' d,  stained  with  blood;  V. 
/      iv.  133. 
V    Flocks,  tufts  of  wool;  II.  i.  6. 
L-Fobbed,     cheated ;     tricked 
(Quartos    7,    8,    "snub'd")', 
I.ii.65. 
l>Foil,  tinsel  on  which  a  jewel  is 
set  to  enhance  its  brilliancy 
(Quartos   4,    5.   6,   7.   8,   and 
Folios,  "  soile  ")  ;  I.  ii.  225. 
y'^^-<^oot,     foot-soldiers,     infantry ; 
II.  iv.  582. 
iJ^oot      land-rakers,      foot-pads 
(Quartos      "  footland      rak- 
ers";     Folios,      "  Footland- 
Rakers")  ;  II.  i.  80. 
^Forced,  compelled  by  whip  and 
spur;   Ill.i.  135. 
Foul,  bad    (Folio  2,  "  soure"; 
Folios    3,    4,    "  sowre")  ',    V. 
i.  8. 


THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

^•Found;  "  f.  me,"  folmd  me 
out,  discovered  my  weak- 
ness; I.  iii.  3. 

\^'Pour  by  the  day,  four  o'clock 
in  the  morning;  II.  i.  i. 

^■'^'amed,     planned,     composed ; 

III.  i.  123. 
^^ranklin,    freeholder    or    yeo- 
man ;  II.  i.  59. 

^rets,  used  equivocally  for  (i.) 
chafes,  and   (ii.)   wears  out;' 

^II.ii.2. 

From,  away  from;  III.  ii.  31. 
i^Front,  confront;  II.  ii.  61. 

Frontier,  forehead,  brow  ;  I.  iii. 

Y  Frontiers,  outworks  ;   II.  iii.  55. 
Full  of  rest,  thoroughly  rested; 

IV.  iii.  27. 

^-^urniture,  furnishing,  equip- 
ment; III.  iii.  218. 

^-^^dshill;  a  hill  two  miles 
northwest  of  Rochester  on 
the  Canterbury  Road ;  a  well- 
known  resort  of  highway- 
men; I.  ii.  133. 
i^a^ge,  engage,  pledge;  I.  iii.  173. 
(^ait,  walk,  pace ;  III.  i.  135. 

Gall,  annoy ;  I.  iii.  229. 
^Garters,  an  allusion  to  the  Or- 
der of  the  Garter ;  "  He  may 
hang  himself  in  his  own  gar- 
ters," was  an  old  proverbial 
)     saying;  II,  ii.  46. 
^^^elding,  horse ;  II.  i.  38. 
,   taking   away    from ;    III. 

Gib  cat,  old  tom  cat ;  I.  ii.  80. 
Gilliams,  another  form  of  Wil- 
liams ;  II.  iii.  68. 


144 


KING  HENRY  IV. 


Glossary 


Given,  inclined,   disposed;   III. 
iii.  i6. 


tJ^od  save  the  mark!'  a  depre-  \.^^alf-szvord,  close  fight;   II.  iv 


catory    exclamation ;     I.    iii. 
56. 
^-^oodman,  grandfather;   11.  iv. 
102. 


^^Good  morrow,  good  movmng  •X.^-fturdiment,   bravery,    bold    en- 
11.  iv.  559.  counter;   I.  iii.  loi. 

^-"^"Xjood   night,'    an    exclamation  {.^Mrrre,  "flesh  of  hare  was  sup- 
expressing  desperate  resigna-  posed     to     generate     melan- 
tion    {cp.   the   use   of   buona  choly  "  ;   I.  ii.  83. 
notte   among  the   Italians   to       Harlotry,  vixen;  III.  i.  199. 
this  day)  ;  I.  iii.  194.                    '^^arlotry  players,  vagabond  (or 


Half-moon,  the  name  of  a  room 
in  the  tavern;  II.  iv.  30. 


U< 


•179- 


Happy  ma:i  be  his  dole,'  hap- 
piness be  his  portion ;  a  pro- 
verbial   expression ;    II.  ii.  78. 


i>^Garbellied,    big-bellied;    II.    ii. 
91. 
Government ;   "good   g.,"   self- 
control,    used   quibblingly,    I. 
]i.  31 ;  command,  IV.  i.  19. 

^'^'^race,   service,   honour,   III.   i. 

182. 
L'^-'^race ;       "  the       Archbishop's 
grace,     of     York,"     i.e.     his 
Grace     the     Archbishop     of 
York;   III.  ii.  119. 

L^'^randam,  grandmother;   III.  i. 

34- 

I^^Crapple,    wrestle,    struggle;    I. 
iii.  197. 
Grief,  physical  pain;  I.  iii.  51; 

V.  i.  133. 
Griefs,  grievances  ;  IV.  iii.  42. 
Gull,  unfledged  bird  ;  V.  i.  60. 
l^^A^-^Wnmed;  "  g.  velvet,"  i.e.  stiff- 
ened with  gum;  II.  ii.  2. 
Gyves,  fetters ;  IV.  ii.  43. 


strolling)     players;     II.     iv. 
li.,^-422. 

Harness,  armour,  armed  men ; 
III.  ii.  loi. 
*-fTead,      armed      force       (used 
quibblingly)  ;  I.  iii.  284. 

^-^^ade  head,"   raised  an 

armed  force  ;  III.  i.  64. 
Head   of  safety,   protection   in 
an  armed  force;  IV.  iii.  103. 
Hearken' d  for,  longed  for ;  V. 
iv.  52. 
^^-fTeavenly-harness'd    team,    the 
car   and   horses   of   Phoebus, 
the  sun-god;  III.  i.  221. 
'    Hem,    an    exclamation    of    en- 
couragement ;  II.  iv.  18. 
Herald's  coat,  tabard,  or  sleeve- 
less coat,   still  worn  by  her- 
alds ;  IV.  ii.  47. 
^Jest,  behest,  command;  II.  iii. 

Hind,  boor;  II.  iii.  17. 
*"* — TTabits,  garments;  I.  ii.  184.        ^"^itherto,  to  this  spot ;  III.  i.  74. 
Hair,  peculiar   quality,   nature, t^^ old   in,   restrain   themselves; 
character;  IV.  i.  61.  .         II.  i.  84. 

^■""fTalf-fac'd,  half-hearted;  I.  iii.L<77o/rf  me  pace,  keep  pace  with 


208. 


me;  III.  i.  49. 


145 


Glossary 

\,.''fToly-rood  day,  fourteenth  of 
September;  I.  i.  52. 

^^-""flome,  "  to  pay  home,"  i.e. 
^thoroughly,  fully  ;  I.  iii.  288. 
/Homo;  "'homo'  is  a  common 
name  to  all  men,"  a  quota- 
tion from  the  Latin  gram- 
mars of  the  time ;  11.  i.  103. 

^-^"nopes,   anticipations  ;    I.  ii.  221. 

\y Horse,  horses;  II.  i.  3. 

U^^ot  in  question,  earnestly  dis- 
cussed;  I.  i.  34. 

^Hue  and  cry,  a  clamour  in  pur- 
suit of  a  thief;  II.  iv.  542. 

^'^''^ timorous,   capricious ;    III.   i. 

X^ Humours,  caprices ;  II.  iv.  loi ; 
II.  iv.  480. 
Hurlyburly,  tumultuous ;   V.   i. 
78. 
L-^ifyhla;    "  honey    of    H."     (so 
Quartos,     but     Folios, 
"  honey,"  omitting  "  of  H.")  ; 
three    towns    of    Sicily    bore 
this  name,  and  one  of  them 
was  famed  for  its  honey;  I. 
ii.  45. 
Hydra,    the    many-headed    ser 


i^. 


THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

^"Tmpeach,   accuse,    reproach ;    1. 

iii.  75- 
\i.J^tpressed,    pressed,    compelled 

to  fight ;  I.  i.  21. 
Tident,   indentation  ;    III.  i.  104. 
,      bargain,      compound 

with,  make  an  indenture ;   I. 

iii.  87. 
Indentures       tripartite,       triple 

agreement,  i.e.  "  drawn  up  in 

three  corresponding  copies  "  ; 

III.  i.  80. 
Indirect,  wrong,  out  of  the  di- 
rect   course,    wrongful ;    IV. 
iii.  105. 

If^nduction,    beginning ;    III.  i.  2. 
Injuries,  wrongs  ;  V.  i.  50. 
Intelligence,   intelligencers,    in- 
formers ;  IV.  iii.  98. 
^-'intemperance,    excesses,     want 
of  moderation    (Folios,  '' in- 
tetnperature  ")  ;  III.  ii.  156. 
Intended,    intending   to    march 
(Collier  MS.,  "  intendeth")  ; 

IV.  i.  92. 
^^^iterchangeably,     mutually 

(each  person  signing  all  the 
documents)  ;  III.  i.  81. 


pent  killed 
iv.  25. 


by 


t^' Ignis  fatuus,'  Will  o'  the  wisp  ; 

III.  iii.  43- 
Ignomy,  dishonour  (Quartos  i, 
2,  3,  8,  Folios  3,  4,  "ig- 
nominy," so  Cambridge  Ed., 
the  rest  "ignomy")  ;  V.  iv. 
100. 
\.^-^fnimask,   mask,   conceal ;    I.   ii. 


Jmpawn'd,  pledged,  left  as  host 
age ;  IV.  iii.  108. 


-./ 


Hercules;   Y.^    interest   to,   claim   to;    III. 


^^-regular,  lawless ;  I.  i.  40. 

yitem,  "  a  separate  article,  or 
particular,  used  in  enumera- 
tion," originally  meant  "  like- 
wise, also  "  ;  II.  iv.  570. 
Ir^teration,  "  damnable  itera- 
tion," "  a  wicked  trick  of  re- 
peating and  applying  holy 
texts"  (Johnson);  I.  ii.  97. 


Jack,  frequently  used  as  a  term 
of  contempt;  II.  iv.  12.. 


KING  HENRY  IV. 


Glossary 


i'^oined-stool,  a  sort  of  folding    I   Lend  me  thy  hand,  help  me;  II. 
chair;  II.  iv.  406.  L      iv^2. 

Journey-hated,     exhausted     by    ^"t^ him,  let  him  go;  I.  i.gi. 
Jlieir  long  march ;   IV.  iii.  26.  fl,J.^ef^st    slip,    let'st    loose     (the 
limps,  agrees;  I.  ii.  74. 


Jiistling,  busy;  IV.  i.  18. 

H/A^endal  green,  a  woollen  cloth 
made  at  Kendal,  Westmore- 
land; II.  iv.  237. 
W^r^TT^welt ;  I.  iii.  244. 
living  Christen,   Christian  king 
(Folios,  "in  C  h  r  i  s  t  e  n- 
dome")  ;  II.  i.  18. 
K nazes,  becomes  conscious 
IV.  iii.  74. 

L^aek-brain,    emptyheaded     fel- 
low ;  II.  iii.  17. 
Lag-end,  latter  end  ;  V.  i.  24. 
\_^l'€ry^'by,    the    words    used    by 
highwaymen  to  their  victims; 
properly     a     nautical     term, 
^  "slacken  sail";  I.  ii.  39. 
Leaden,     having     a     leaden 

sheath  ;  II.  iv.  407. 
Leading;      "  great      1.,"      well- 
generalship  ;    IV.   iii. 


I.ii 


II. 


known 

17. 
l^^iirnn',  scanty ;  I.  ii.  79. 
l^.^JrTfUptng-houses,  brothels 

10. 
^-^^eash,    three    in    a    string ; 

iv.  7. 
[/^Leathern  jerkm,  a  garment  gen- 
erally worn  by  tapsters;  IL 
iv.  76. 
* — "Keave;  "good  leave."  full  pcr- 
mission^TT'iii.  20;   "give  us 
leave,"   a  courteous   form  of 
dismissal,  III.  ii.  i. 
'Leg,  obeisance ;  II.  iv.  414. 


V 


greyhound)  ;   I.  iii.  278. 
Libertine   (Capell's  emendation 
of  Quartos  i,  2.  3,  4,  "  a  lih- 
ertie " ;    Quarto    5,    etc.,    "  at 
lihertie";    Collier    MS.,    "of 
liberty  ")  ;  V.  ii.  y2. 
Ufef^,  lodges  ;  I.  ii.  137. 
Lieve,    lief,    willingly;    IV.    ii. 
18. 
--tirgJTted,  alighted ;  I.  i.  6^. 
oi;L,'J^ing;  "in  some  1.,"  in  good 
^condition;  III.  iii.  6. 
LAue,  rank;  III.  ii.  85. 
yLine,   strengthen;   II.   iii.  86. 
l_SJirirs,   torches    carried    in    the 
streets  before  lamps  were  irt- 
troduced  ;  III.  iii.  47. 
f^si^quored,  made  waterproof ;  II. 

i-93. 
List,  limit;  IV.  i.  51. 

Kj^gerheads,  blockheads ;  II. 
iv.  4. 

^■*ifongstatf;  "  long-staff  six- 
penny strikers,"  fellows  who 
infested  the  roads  with  long- 
staffs,  and  knocked  men 
down  for  sixpence  ;  II.  i.  81. 
Look  big,  look  threateningly ; 
IV.  i.  58. 

L>Lrrgged  bear,  a  bear  led 
through  the  streets  by  a  rope 
tied  round  its  head;  I.  ii.  80. 


Mad,  madcap,  merry ;  IV.  ii.  38. 

"  Maid  Marian,''  a  character  in 
the  Morris  Dances,  originally 
Robin  Hood's  mistress,  often 
personated  by  a  man  dressed 


147 


Glossary 


as    a    woman ;    III, 
{Cp.  illustration.) 


in.    12 


From  a  black-letter  ballad  of  the 
XVIIth  century. 

Main,  a  stake  at  gaming;   IV. 

i.47. 

Maintenance,    carriage;    V.    iv. 
22. 

Major,  probably  used  for  "ma- 
jor premiss,"  with  a  play 
upon  "  major  "  =  ''  mayor  " ; 
II.  iv.  530. 
^--"'^ajority,  pre-eminence;  III.  ii. 
109. 


^  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

5:    \J(fammets,  puppets;  II.  iii.gs, 

\0Manage,  direction  ;  II.  iii.  52. 

\^^;^4€>iner;  "  taken  with  the  m.," 
i.e.  taken  in  the  act ;  a  law 
term     (captiis    cum    manuo- 

^.PS^O  ;  Il.iv.  335. 

rsManningtree,  a  place  in  Essex 

where       the       "  Moralities " 

were  acted ;    during  the   fair 

held  there  an  ox  was  roasted 

^^ole;  II.  iv.  483. 

^^^ark,  a  coin  worth  thirteen 
shillings  and  f ourpence ;  II.  i. 
60. 

^■MnV^ed.   heeded,    observed;    I. 
ii.  92. 
Master'd,  possessed,  owned  ;  V. 


\.;/Ma: 


y\ 


Makest  tender  of,  hast  regard 
for ;  V.  iv.  49. 

Make  up,  go  forward,  advance ; 
V.iv.5. 
^'■'iCfalevolent,  hostile,  an  astro- 
logical term;  I.  i.  97. 
t-Malt-zi'onns,  "  mustachio  pur- 
ple-hued  malt-worms,"  i.e. 
ale-topers ;  those  who  dip 
their  mustachios  so  deeply 
and  perpetually  in  liquor  as 
to  stain  them  purple-red;  II. 
i.82. 


64. 


asters;   "  my  m.,"  a   familiar 
title  of  courtesy  used  even  to 
ijiferiors  ;  II.  iv.  536. 
ean,  means  ;  I.  iii.  261. 
\,tJ^fedicines,  alluding  to  the  com- 
mon   belief    in    love-potions ; 
II.  ii.  19. 
{^.JrfeJancJwly  as  a  cat,'  an  old 
proverbial    expression ;    I.    ii. 
80. 
Make  against,  oppose;   V.  i.  103.  ^i^Teniento  mori,  a  ring  upon  the 


stone  of  which  a  skull  and 
cross-bones  were  engraved, 
commonly  worn  as  a  re- 
minder   of   man's    mortality ; 

J    III.  iii.  35. 

^lercy,   "  I   cry  you  mercy,"   I 
beg  your  pardon  ;  I.  iii.  212. 
\^,y^erliyi,  the  old  magician  of  the 
Arthurian     legends ;     III.     i, 
150. 

y^l^icher,  truant,  thief  (moocher, 
a  truant;  a  blackberry 
moucher,    a    boy    who    plays 

148 


KING  HENRY  IV. 


Glossary 


truant  to  pick  blackberries," 
Akerman's  Glossary  of  Pro- 
vincial Words)  ;  II.  iv.  436. 

Y^Millincr;  "perfumed  like  a 
milliner  " ;  a  man  who  dealt 
in  fancy  articles,  especially 
articles  of  personal  adorn- 
ment, which  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  constantly  perfum- 
ing; I.  III.  36. 

^-''^^incing,  affected;  III.  i.  134. 

y'l^tmion,   darling ;    favourite  ;    I. 

i.  83. 
iMAsprision,  misapprehension;  I. 
iii.  27. 
Misquote,   misinterpret;    V.    ii. 

i-^^streadings,    sins,    transgres-  * 

sions ;  III.  ii.  11. 
f-'Misuse,  ill-treatment;  I.  i.  43. 

Mo,  more;  IV.  iv.  31. 
^—Waiety,  share;   III.  i.  96. 
^^'''''Wbldzvarp,  mole;  III.  i.   149. 
L^-Mvddy,     discontented,     angry; 

I.  iii.  19. 
y^JAro  of  ditch,    part    of    the    stag- 
nant ditch  surrounding  Lon- 
don,     between      Bishopsgate 
and  Cripplegate ;  I.  ii.  84. 
l^y^^Tore;    "  the    more    and    less," 
^    high  and  low ;  IV.  iii.  68. 
t^Moulten,  moulting;  III.  i.  152. 
t^M'^uthed,  gaping,  I.  iii.  97. 
l,,-'^ Muddy,   dirty,    rascally;    II.    i. 

{^Ji4utual,  having  common  inter- 
ests (Quarto  8,  "  naUirall")  ; 
I.  i.  14. 

L.^'^atural  scope,  natural  tempera- 
ment; III,  i.  171. 


^^Tat's  tongue,  ox  tongue;   II. 
iv.  262. 
Neck;  "in  the  n.  of  that,"  im- 
mediately after ;  IV.  iii.  92. 
^-^teglcctingly,   slightingly,  care- 
lessly; I.  iii.  52. 
^Nether    stocks,    stockings;    IT. 

iv.  126. 
(L^N^ivgate  fashion,  "  as  prisoners 
are     conveyed     to     Newgate, 
fastened    two    and    two    to- 
gether " ;  III.  iii.  100. 
LMew    reap'd,    trimmed    in    the 

newest  style ;  I.  iii.  34. 
••N^xt,  nearest,  surest;  II.  i.  9; 
III.  i.  264. 
Nice,  precarious ;  IV.  i.  48. 
IL^—Nvted,  well  known,  familiar;  I. 

ii.  189. 
^-^othing,  not  at  all ;  III.  i.  133. 
^ot-pated,    close    cropped;    II. 
iv.  77. 

'-Ob,  abbreviation  of  obolus 
(properly  a  small  Greek 
coin),  halfpenny;  II.  iv.  575. 

Offering,  challenging,  assail- 
ing; IV.  i.  69. 

Old  faced,  old  patched;  IV.  ii. 

^^^Uneyers;  "great  o.,"  probably 
a  jocose  term  for  "great 
ones"  {v.  Note)  ;  II.  i.  84. 

IjQftnion,  self-conceit.  III.  i. 
185 ;   public   opinion,    reputa- 

.       tioji,  III.  ii.  42. 

^-'Opposed,      standing     opposite, 
confronting,  I.  i.  9;  opposite, 
III.  i.  no. 
Orb,  sphere;  V.  i.  17. 

\J^^er  ta'en,  arrangement 
made;  III.  i.  71. 

149 


Glossary 


THE  FIRST  PART  OF 


^  O,  the  father,  i.e.  by  God  the 

^^^ther ;   II.  iv.  419. 
^"^ught,  owed;  III.  iii.   147. 
Outdare,  out-brave,  defy;  V.  i. 

l^Outfaced,    frightened ;    II.    iv. 
274. 


i^etiil's,    St.    Paul's    Cathedral; 
"  a   constant  place   of  resort 
for     business     and     amuse- 
ment "  ;  II.  iv.  561. 
\\y^each,  betray  you,  turn  King's 
evidence ;  II.  ii.  46. 
L,Ptre)upfory,   bold,    unawed;    I. 
iii.  17. 
Personal,  in  person ;  IV.  iii.  88. 
Painted  cloth,  tapestry  worked  t^„P^k-tlianks,  officious  parasites; 


^^ Pacified,  appeased,  III.  iii.  188 


or  painted   with   figures   and 
scenes,  with  which  the  walls 
of  rooms  were  hung;   IV.  ii. 
26. 
i^alisadocs,   pallisades ;    II.    iii. 

55- 
X'-^araquito,  little  parrot,  term  of 
endearment  ;  II.  iii.  88. 


III.  ii.  25. 
Pierce,    with    play    on    Percy 
(probably       pronounced 
pej-ce)  ;  V.  iii.  58. 
LPinch,  vex,  torment;  I.  iii.  229. 

Pismires,  ants;  I.  iii.  240. 
y^lay  off,  toss  off  at  a  draught ; 
II.  iv.  18. 


[yParcel,  item,  II.  iv.   no;  small  \yPoint,  head  of  the  saddle;   II. 

part.  III.  ii.  159. 
i^^arley,         conversation 

looks)  ;  III.  i.  204. 
y^,>^armaceti,       spermaceti 


sperm   of    the    whale;    I.    iii.    ^-rPo/'/w/aj',  parrot  ;  I.  iii.  50 


.    58. 

l^^P^rt ;   "  on  his  p. 
half     (Folios. 
halfe"),    I.    iii. 
III.  i.  7^. 

\,y''^articipation ;     "' 


companions ;  III.  ii.  87. 

^'^Partlet;  "  Dame  P.."  the  name 
of  the  hen  in  the  old  story 
of  "  Reynard  the  Fox " 
{cp.  Chaucer's  Nonnes 
Preestes  Tale)  ;  III.  iii.  S7- 

^>^Passages;  "thy  p.  of  life."  the 
actions  of  thy  life ;  III.  ii.  8. 
^  Passion,  sorrow,  II.  iv.  413 ; 
.  suffering.  III.  i.  35. 

^<-^Patience,  composure  of  mind; 
I.  iii.  200. 


i.  6. 
(of  ^^omgarnct,    Pomegranate,    the 

name  of  a  room  in  the  tav- 
the  ern;  II.  iv.  42. 


Possessed,  informed ;  IV.  i.  40. 
be-  i^^ossession,  the  possessor;  III. 
in     his     he-  ii>-43- 

133;    share,    i,^*^^^  messenger  ;  I.  i.  2>7- 

'^milter,  poulterer ;  II.  iv.  466. 
ile    p.."    low  y^^^^^uncet-hox,  a   small  smelling 


,  From  a  XlVth  century  specimen, 
[  formerly  in  the  possession  of  Wc 
I       Chaffers,  Esq.,  F.  S.  A. 


150 


KING  HENRY  IV. 


Glossary 


box  perforated  with  holes  for 
musk  or  other  perfumes ;    I. 
iii.  38. 
Powder,  salt;  V.  iv.  112. 
L-^tcrr^  army,  force;  I.  i.  22. 
i — Precedent,  sample;  II.  iv.  2>7- 
l^^B^-edicament,     condition,      cat- 
egory ;  I.  iii.  168. 
I^Presently,    immediately;    II.    i. 

65- 

L-^i'biitcd,    skilled,     attained    to 
great  proficiency;  III.  i.  166. 

C^roiogne  to  an  egg  and  butter, 
grace  before  an  ordinary  sort 
of  breakfast;   I.  ii.  23. 
^-^^rosperous  hope,  hope  of  pros- 
pering; III.  i.  2. 

L'-'Pfdiest,  a  word  used  of  petty 
and  affected  oaths;  III.  i. 
260. 
t—'-'-Prune,  applied  to  birds,  to 
trim ;  to  pick  out  damaged 
feathers  and  arrange  the 
plumage  with  the  bill ;  I. 
i.  98. 

^/^Puke- stocking,     (probably) 


y^k&bbif-sucker,   sucking  rabbit ; 

II.  iv.  466. 

^-Rtffnping,   rampant,    rearing  to 
spring;    the    heraldic    term; 

III.  i.  153. 

L-Rrffe,    excellent,    used    perhaps 

quibblingly ;  I.  ii.  69. 
i^'-Rash,     quick,     easily     excited ; 
III.  ii.  61. 
Rated,  chid,  scolded;  IV.  iii.  99. 
Rated,    reckoned    upon,    relied 
upon;  IV.  iv.   17. 
leases,     roots,      (?)     packages, 

bales;   II.  i.  25. 
t^Read;    "  hath    r.    to    me,"    in- 
structed me;  III.  i.  46. 
^xcasons,     with     a     play     upon 
"  raisins  "  ;  II.  iv.  255. 
Rebuke,  chastisement;  V.  i.  iir. 
^^r^^d-breast  teacher,  teacher  of 
music  to  birds;  III.  i.  264. 
Regard,  opinion;   IV.  iii.  57. 
Remember    you,    remind    you ; 

V.  i.  32. 
Reprisal,  prize;  IV.  i.   118. 


dark-coloured    stocking;     II.   P^^^''^^^;    ^°"^"^^y?";     ^.^^"^^ 

tionjUtr  11.    200,CJcY[,    n.    2t, 


IV.  77 
^y^ur chase,    gain,    plunder  (Fo- 


angry  retorts.  III. 


lios,  "purpose");   II.  i.   100.    I    ^"/'^^^^  attention ;   I\.  ni.  31 
i^^ish;   "stand  the  p.   of,"   ex-   U^^^s,  retreats;  II.  111.  54- 

pose  himself  to;  III.  ii.  66.       i^-J^'engement,     revenge;      III 

11.  7, 

Quality,  party;  IV.  iii.  36. 
Question,      doubt,      misgiving; 

IV.  i.  68. 
LQidddities,     equivocations 

ii.  51. 
Quilt,   a   quilted    coverlet ;    IV 

i^^^^ips,  sharp  jests;  I.  ii.  49 


Quit,  acquit,  excuse ;.III, 


Reversion,  hope  of  future  pos- 
session ;   IV.  i.  SZ- 
V-RacJi,  fertile;  III.  i.  105. 
I.  i/liivo,    a    common    exclamation 
f  topers;  II.  iv.  121. 
oan,  roan-coloured  horse;  II. 
iii.  72. 
).         I     Rroundly,    roundly,    speak    out 
ii.  19.    I        plainly;  I.  ii.  24. 

151 


Glossary 


\/^oya 


oyal,  a  quibbling  allusion  to 
the  "  royal "  coin  (=  lo 
shillings  ;  a  "  noble  "  =  6s. 
8d.)  ;  II.  iv.  310. 
Rub  the  elbow  (in  token  of  en- 
joyment) ;  V.  i.  77. 
\Riidely,  "  by  thy  violent  con- 
duct " ;  III.  ii.  z^- 

\Juick,     Spanish     and     Canary 
wiiies ;  I.  ii.  3. 

X^^^^^iKk  and  sugar,  alluding  to  the 
then  custom  of  putting  sugar 
inter  wines;  1.  ii.  120. 
l^kfint  Nicholas'  clerks,  thieves, 
highwaymen  (  ?  due  to  a  con- 
fusion of  (i)  Saint  Nicholas, 
the  patron  saint  of  scholars, 
and  (2)  the  familiar  use  of 
"Old  Nick");  II.  i.  66. 

t^Salamander,  an  animal  sup- 
posed to  be  able  to  live  in 
fire;  III.  iii.  51. 


THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

'Sarcenet,  a   thin   kind   of  silk, 
originally  made  by  the  Sar- 
acens, whence  its  name ;  here 
used       contemptuously       for 
^       soft,  delicate;  III.  i.  256. 
""Vandalized,  disgraced    (Folios 
2,   3,   4,  "so   scandalised")  ', 
I.  iii.  154. 
Scot  and  lot,  taxes;  V.  iv.  115. 
Seat,  estates ;  V.  i.  45. 
-Seldom,  rarely  seen ;  III.  ii.  58. 
Semblably,  similarly ;  V.  iii.  21. 
^.S'eri'ant,  used  adjectively,  sub- 
ject; I.  iii.  19. 
t-^^rvice,  action;  III.  ii.  5. 
Set  a  match,  made  an  appoint- 
ment     in       thieves'       slang, 
"planned    a    robbery"    (Fo- 
lios "watch")  ;   I.   ii.   114. 
Set    off;     "  s.     o.     his     head," 
"  taken    from   his    account  "  ; 
Al.  i.  88. 
■better,    the    one    who    set    the 
match;  II.  ii.  52. 


Salamanders. 
From  an  illuminated  MS.  of  the  XlVth  century. 


\y$alt-petre,  nitre;  I.  iii.  60. 
\/Salvation;  "  upon  their  s.,"  i.e. 


(Folios,   "confidence")  ;   II. 
iv.  10. 


Seven    stars,    the    Pleiades 
,     ii.  15. 


I. 


by   their   hopes   of   salvation  s  J  Shallow,  silly,  stupid;  II.  iii.  16. 
'"  '  "^        Shape   of  likelihood,  probabil- 

ity; I.  i.  58. 


152 


KING  HENRY  IV, 


Glossary 


i^^-^^helter,       shelter,"       conceal 
yourself  quickly;   II.  ii.   i. 
SJiot-free,  scot-free,   free  from 
charge ;   with  play  upon  the 
word;  V.  iii.  30. 

'^hotten  herring,  a  herring  that 
has  cast  its  roe;  II.  iv.  140. 

L^Srmiles,  comparisons   (Quartos 
1-4  and  Folio  i,  "smiles")  ; 
1.  ii.  85. 
Sinew,   strength ;   IV.  iv.   17. 

LStrvk  or  swim,  "an  old  English 
proverbial  expression  imply- 
ing to  run  the  chance  of  suc- 
cess or  failure";  I.  iii.  194. 
j__^_„,Sm-a/z,  generally  used  to  an  in- 
ferior ;  here  an  instance  of 
unbecoming  familiarity ;  I. 
ii.  188. 

LSjfe+//,  wisdom,  good  policy ;   T. 
ii.  226. 

\_,S^Hinble-skamble,     wild,     con- 
fused; III.  i.  154. 
i-S^ping,   flighty,    thoughtless ; 
III.  ii.  60. 
l^^.'-^ovenly,   battle-stained;   I.   iii. 

44- 
L-^nug,  trim,  smooth ;  III.  i.  102. 
\^^^^eak-cup,  (probably)  one  who 
sneaks  from  his  cup;  III.  iii. 

95- 
L^S^rdfr;   "took  it  in   snuff,"  i.e. 
took  it  as  an  offence ;  with  a 
play  upon  "  snuff  "  in  the  or- 
dinary sense;  I.  iii.  41. 

So,  howsoever;   IV.  i.   11. 

I S^etnnity,      awful      grandeur, 

dignity;   III.   ii.   59, 

Soothers,  flatterers ;  IV.  i.  7. 

Soused  gurnet,  a  fish  pickled 
in  vinegar,  a  term  of  con- 
tempt;  IV.  ii.   12. 


Spanish-pouch,  evidently  a  con- 
temptuous term  =  drunkard ; 
II.  iv.  78. 

'"SfTed ;  "  be  your  s.,"  stand  you 
in  good  stead;  III.  i.  190. 
Spite,  vexation;  III.  i.   192. 

'Spleen,  waywardness;  II.  iii. 
81. 

^^SfmTT  ruin,     corruption ;     III. 

•     iii.    12. 

^qwer,  square  (Quarto  8, 
"  s  q  u  a  i  r  e  " ;  Folios  3,  4, 
"square":     the     rest 


squire  ")  ;  II.  ii.  13. 
^^..Sqmre;     "  s.     of     the     night's 
body,"   a   play   upon   "  squire 
of   the    body,"    /.('.    attendant 
1^      upon  a  knight;  I.  ii.  26. 
y-S^ind,       soiled,      bespattered 
(Folio    I,   "strained")  ;   I.  i. 
64. 
l\^^tanding-tuck,    rapier    set    on 
epjd;  II.  iv.  265. 
tart;   "  s.  of  spleen,"   impulse 
of  caprice ;  III.  ii.  125. 
iyStarting-hole,   subterfuge,   eva- 
sion; II.  iv.  281. 
Starve,      to      starve       (Folios 
"  staru'a  ")  ;   I.   iii.   159. 
0^tarveling,  a  starved,  lean  per- 
son ;  II.  i.  75. 
Starving,  longing;  V.  i.  81. 
y State,    chair    of    state,    throne ; 

II.  iv.  403. 
Stay,  linger ;   "  we   shall    stay  " 

=  we  shall  have  stayed ;  IV. 
ii.  80. 
Steal,    steal    yourselves    away; 

III.  i.  93. 
Stock-fish,    dried    cod;    II.    iv. 

262. 
/Stomach,  appetite ;  II.  iii.  44. 

153 


/. 


Glossary 

Strait,  strict ;  IV.  iii.  79. 

yStrappado;  "the  strappado  is 
1/  when  a  person  is  drawn  up 
to  his  height,  and  then  sud- 
denly to  let  him  fall  half 
way  with  a  jerk,  which  not 
only  breaketh  his  arms  to 
pieces,  but  also  shaketh  all 
his  joints  out  of  joint,  which 
punishment  is  better  to  be 
hanged,  than  for  a  man  to 
undergo "  (Randle  Holme, 
in  his  Academy  of  Arms  and 
Blazon)  ;  II.  iv.  253. 
\^,.^rength,  strong  words,  terms; 

L  iii.  25. 
i-^Stronds,  strands ;  I.  i.  4. 

Struck    fowl,    wounded    fowl ; 
IV.  ii.  20. 
[^..^^^uhornation;    "murderous   s.," 
procuring  murder  by  under- 
hand means ;  I.  iii.  163. 
L-^uddenly,  very  soon;  I.  iii.  294. 

"  Sue  his  livery,"  to  lay  legal 
claim  to  his  estates,  a  law 
term;  IV.  iii.  62, 

^M^^rawc^.?, sufferings;  V.  i.  51. 

Suggestion,  temptation;  IV.  iii. 
51. 


THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

l&tiits,  used  with  a  quibbling  al- 
lusion to  the  fact  that  the 
clothes  of  the  criminal  be- 
longed to  the  hangman;  I. 
ii.  77- 

L-SHTlen;  dark;  I.  ii.  222. 

iS^i^mmer-house,  pleasant  re- 
treat, country  house ;  III.  i. 
164. 

\,^iSMiday-citiccns,      citizens      in 
their  "  Sunday  best  " ;  III.  i. 
261. 
Supply,     reinforcements ;     IV. 

iii.  3. 
"  Sutton  Co'-fil,"  a  contraction 
of  Sutton  Coldfield,  a  town 
twenty-four  miles  from  Cov- 
entry (Quarto  2,  "Sutton 
cophill";  Folios  and  Quar- 
tos 5,  6,  8,  "  Sutton-cop- 
hill");  IV.  ii.  3. 

CS^'^athling    clothes,    swaddling 
clothes     (Quartos     i,     2,    3, 
"  szvathling" ;        the        rest, 
"jivathing")  ;  III.  ii.   112. 
\,^dJord-and-buckler,     the     dis- 


S  word  and  buckler. 

{a)  From  an  illuminated  MS.  of  XVth 
century. 

154 


{b]  From  a  XVIth  century  woodcut, 


KING  HENRY  IV. 


Glossary 


tinctive  weapons  of  serving- 
men  and  riotous  fellows ; 
Hotspur  seems  to  despise  this 
exercise,  an  interesting  par- 
ody of  which  is  to  be  seen  in 
the  accompanying  cut  (b) 
of  Shakespeare's  time ;  I.  iii. 
193- 

k^JX-etfftfa,  a  glossy   silken   stuff ; 

I.  ii.  II. 
L-^ake  it,  swear;  II.  iv.  9. 
^^'ake    me    with    you,    tell    me 

what  you  mean;  II.  iv.  492. 
^—¥ntl,  strong,  able;   I.  iii.  62. 
i_X^llozv  -  catch    =   "tallow- 
ketch,"   i.e.   a   tallow-tub,   or 
perhaps       "  tallow   -  keech  " 
(Steevens'     conjecture),     i.e. 
a  round  lump  of  fat  rolled  up 
by  the  butcher  to  be  carried 
to  the  chandler ;  II.  iv.  243. 
l^arget,  shield;  II.  iv.  217. 
^rry,  remain,  stay;  I.  ii.  153. 
Task'd,  taxed ;   IV.  iii.  92. 
Tasking,  challenge    (Quarto   i. 
"  tasking  "  ;    the   rest,   "  talk- 
ing") ;  V.  ii.  51. 
Task  me,  test  me ;  IV.  i.  9. 
Taste,     test,     try    the     temper 
(Quarto  2,  "taste";  Quarto 
I,  "  tast " ;  the  rest,  "  take  ")  ; 

t^-^P^'  i-  119; 

^iVw/j^r,  disposition,  "tempera- 
ment; III.  i.  170. 
ly^ench;  "stung  like  a  t. ";  pos- 
sibly there  is  an  allusion  to 
the  old  belief  that  fishes 
were  supposed  to  be  infested 
with  fleas ;  or  perhaps  the 
simile  is  intentionally  mean- 
ingless; II.  i.  16. 


Term,  word  (Folios  and  Quar- 
tos 7,  8,  "  dreame  " ;  Quar- 
tos, 5,  6,  "  deame ")  ;   IV.  i. 

85. 
Termagant,  an  imaginary  god 
of  the  Mahometans,  repre- 
sented as  a  most  violent 
character  in  the  old  Miracle- 
plays  and  Moralities ;  V.  iv. 
114. 

l^-^^Hierefore,  for  that  purpose ;  I. 
i.  30. 

^\''^iick-eyed,    dull-eyed;    II.    iii. 

49- 

\-JPf\ief,   used  as   a  term   of  en- 
dearment ;  III.  i.  238. 
Tickle-brain,     some     kind     of 
^^strong  liquor;    II.   iv.   424. 
Tinkers,  proverbial  tipplers  and 

gamblers ;  II.  iv.  20. 

Toasts-and-biitter,      effeminate 

fellows,  Cockneys ;  IV.  ii.  20. 

Lfrmgite;  "the  tongue,"  i.e.  the 

English  language ;  III.  i.  125. 

^■''Topples,  throws   down ;   III.  i, 

32. 

7  OSS,  "  to  toss  upon  a  pike  "  ; 

IV.  ii.  68. 

Touch,    touchstone,    by    which 

__^,^^old  was  tested;   IV.  iv.   10. 

Trace,  track,  follow ;  III.  i.  48. 

Trade-fallen,      fallen     out     of 

service ;  IV.  ii.  32. 
Train,  allure,  entice ;  V.  ii.  21. 
^Tranquillity,  people  who  live  at 
ease  (Collier  MS.,  "  sanguin- 
.ity")\   II.  i.  83. 
^^"Transformation,  change  of  ap- 
i^ — pearance;  I.  i.  44. 
fTpzasures ;  "  my  t.,"  i.e.  tokens 
of  love  due  to  me  from  you; 
II.  iii.  48. 


155 


Glossary 


THE  FIRST  PART  OF 


your 
III.   iii 


rench,  turn  into  another  chan- 
^^el ;  III.  i.  112. 
^•""irenching,     entrenching,     ma- 
king furrows ;  I.  i.  7, 
^-^rick,  peculiarity;  it.  iv.  431. 
Trim,   ornamental    dress ;    gal- 
Jant  array;  IV.  i.  113. 
^^ristful,    sorrowful     (Quartos, 
Folios,    "  trustful "  ;    Rowe's 
correction)  ;    II.  iv.  420. 
U^riumph,  public  festivity;   III. 

,  iii-  45. 

'^''^   Trojans,       cant       name       for 
^^^-thieves ;  II.  i.  yb. 
*^True,  honest;  I.  ii.  117.   • 
Trumpet,  trumpeter;  "play  the 

t.,"  act  the  herald ;  V.  i.  4.       . 
"Turk  Gregory";  Pope  Greg-  J-Waitmg; 
ory  VIL ;  V.  iii.  46. 
^""•^Turn'd,    being    shaped    in    the 
turning-lathe;  III.  i.  131. 
1/  Twelve-score,      twelve      score 
yards  (in  the  phraseology  of 
archery)  ;    II.  iv.   583. 


Unyoked,  uncurbed,  reckless;  I. 
■^  ii.  206. 
[JJ-p,  up  in  arms;  III.  ii.  120. 

Y^^alued,  being  considered;  III. 

ii.  177- 
i^assal,  servile;  III.  ii.   124. 
yi^asty,  vast;  III.  i.  53. 

Velvet- guards,     trimmings     of 
velvet ;  hence,  the  wearers  of 
^ysnoh.  finery;  III.  i.  261. 
Virtue,  valour;  II.  iv.  129. 
y^^isards,   visors,    masks;    I.    ii. 
136. 


i^  Under-skinker,   under   tapster ; 
II.  iv.  26. 
I  Uneven,  embarrassing;  I.  i.  50. 
.    Unhandsome,    indecent;    I.    iii. 
^^^  AA- 

iJJ-TVJointed,  disjointed,  incoher- 
ent ;    I.  iii.  65. 
Unjust,  dishonest ;  IV.  ii.  29. 
Unminded,     unregarded ;     IV. 
iii.  58. 
%^^-f^Tisorted,  ill-chosen;  II.  iii.  13. 
\„J:^Ttsteadfast,    unsteady;    I.    iii. 

193- 
^^yihrtaught,  ill-mannered ;   I.  iii. 
43. 


^^^^^^Ji^washed;    "with    u.    hands,"  y^V ear,     carry,     bear      (Folios 


without     waiting     to     wash 


hands, 
199. 


immediately 


w.  in  the  court," 
i.e.  "  dancing  attendance  in 
the  hope  of  preferment  " ;  I. 

^-Wake,  waking;   III.  i.  219. 
Want;    "his    present    w.,"    the 
present  want  of  him ;  IV.  i. 


^      44- 

..Canton,  soft,  luxurious;  III. 
i.  214. 

'^Vard,  posture  when  on  guard ; 

II.  iv.  209. 

{j^Vards,     guards     in      fencing, 

postures    of    defence;    I.    ii. 

198. 

Warm,  ease-loving ;   IV.  ii.   18. 

'^^^Wasp-stung  (So  Quarto  i; 
Quartos  and  Folios,  "  wasp- 
tongue"  or  "  w  a  s  p  - 
t  0  n  g  u  e  d" ',  irritable  as 
though  stung  by  a  wasp ;   I. 

^  iii.  236. 

^ ^Watering,  drinking;  II.  iv.  17. 


wore")  ;  I.  iii.  162. 


156 


KING  HENRY  IV, 


Glossary 


IVell,  rightly ;  IV.  iii.  94. 
K^^Wrll-beseeming,    well    becom- 
ing; I.  i.  14. 
Well-respected,    ruled    by    rea- 


Y^Wliat!  an  exclamation  of  im- 
patience; II.  i.  3. 
Whereupon,  wherefore ;  IV.  iii. 
42. 


sonable    considerations;    IV.    "^iVhich,  who;  III.  i.  46. 

^^'ild    of   Kent,   weald   of   K. ; 


ni.  10 
I Welsh  hook;  II.  iv.  372.     (Cp 


II,i.  59. 


the  accompanying  drawing.)    yffTlful-blame,    wilfully    blame- 
able;   III.  i.   177. 
Wind,  turn  in  this  or  that  di- 
rection ;  IV.  i.  109. 
Witch,  bewitch;  IV.  i.  no. 
i-^^ithal,  with;  II.  iv.  552. 
Worship,  honour,  homage ;  III. 
|Ji-    151. 

iVrung  in  the  withers,  pressed 
in  the  shoulders ;  II.  i.  6. 

—¥Tdward,  a  familiar  corruption 
of     Edward,     still     used     in 
_     some  counties ;  I.  ii.  142. 
Yet,  even  now ;  I.  iii.  yy. 
iL'^-rmnker,  greenhorn  ;   III.  iii.  88. 


From  a  specimen  preserved  in 
Carnarvon  Castle. 


Zeal,  earnestness;  IV.  iii.  63. 


^Hostess,  I  forgive  thee '  (iii.  192.) 

From  the  frontispiece  to  Wits,  or  Sports  upoti  Sports, 

printed  for  Henry  Marsh,  1662. 


157 


THE  FIRST  PART  OF 


Critical  Notes. 

BY   ISRAEL   GOLLANCZ. 

I.  i.  5.  'No  more  the  thirsty  entrance  of  this  soil,'  etc.;  Folio  4, 
'entrails'  for  'entrance' ;  Steevens,  'entrants';  Mason,  '  Erin- 
nys' ;  Malone  compares  Genesis  iv.  11 :  "And  now  art  thou  cursed 
from  the  earth,  which  hath  opened  her  mouth  to  receive  thy 
brother's  blood  from  thy  hand  "  :  '  entrance  '  probably  =^  the 
jnouth  of  the  earthor^o  il. ' 

I.  i.  28.  'now  is  tzvelve  month  old'  so  Quartos  i,  2;  Folios,  'is 
a  twelve-month  old' ;  Quartos  7,  8,  '  is  but  twelve  months  old.' 

I.  i.  71.  ' Mordake  the  Earl  of  Fife';  this  was  Murdach  Stew- 
art, not  the  son  of  Douglas,  but  the  eldest  son  of  Robert,  Duke  of 
Albany,  Regent  of  Scotland,  third  son  of  King  Robert  IL"  ('the' 
first  supplied  b}'-  Pope). 

I.  ii.  16.  'that  ivandering  knight  so  fair'  an  allusion  to  'El 
Donzel  del  Febo,'  the  '  Knight  of  the  Sun,'  whose  adventures  were 
translated  from  the  Spanish : — "  Tlie  First  Part  of  the  Mirrour  of 
Princely  deeds  and  Knighthood ;  Wherein  is  shewed  the  IVohthi- 
ness  of  the  Knight  of  the  Sunne  and  his  brother  Rosicleer.  .  .  . 
Now  newly  translated  out  of  Spanish  into  our  vulgar  English 
tongue,  l^y  M(argaret)  T(iler)";  eight  parts  of  the  book  were 
published  between  1579  and  1601.  Shirley  alludes  to  the  Knight  in 
the  Gamester  (iii.  i)  : — 

"He  has  knocked  the  -flower  of  chivalry,  the  very 
Donzel  del  Phebo  of  the  time." 

I.  ii.  45.  '  Of  Hyhla,'  reading  of  Quartos,  omitted  in  Folios : 
'my  old  lad  of  the  castle';  probably  a  pun  on  the  original  name 
of  Falstaff  {cp.  Preface). 

I.  ii.  95,96.  'For  wisdo77i  cries  out  in  the  street,  and  no  man 
regards  it';  an  adaptation  of  Proverbs  i.  20,  omitted  in  Folios. 

I.  iii.  128.  'Albeit  I  make  a  hazard  of  my  head  ' ;  the  readirg 
of  Quartos;  Folios,  'Although  it  be  with  hazard  of  my  head.' 

I.  iii.  193.  '  The  unsteadfast  footing  of  a  spear,'  probably  an  al- 

1=^8 


KING  HENRY  IV. 


Notes 


lusion  to  the  practice  of  ancient  heroes,  e.g.  Lancelot  as  in  the  an- 
nexed cut,  to  make  a  bridge  by  means  of  a  sword  or  spear. 


From  an  ivory  casket  of  the  XlVth  century. 

I.  iii.  201,  etc.  This  rant  of  Hotspur  has  been  compared  with 
the  similar  sentiment  put  into  the  mouth  of  Eteocles  by  Euripides 
— "I  will  not  disguise  my  thoughts;  I  would  scale  heaven;  I 
would  descend  to  the  very  entrails  of  the  earth,  if  so  be  that  by 
that  price  I  could  obtain  a  kingdom." 

In  The  Knight  of  the  Burning  Pestle  (Induction),  Beaumont 
and  Fletcher  put  these  lines  into  the  mouth  of  Ralph,  the  appren- 
tice, "  apparently  with  the  design  of  raising  a  good-natured  laugh 
at  Shakespeare's  expense"  (Johnson). 

I.  iii.  253.  'when  his  .  .  .  age,'  cp.  Richard  II.  Act  II.  iii. 
48,  9,  '  as  my  fortune  ripens  with  thy  love,  It  shall  be  still  thy  true 
love's  recompense.' 

II.  i.  84.  'great  oneyers,'  probably  a  jocose  term  for  'great 
ones,'  with  perhaps  a  pun  on  '  owners' ;  various  emendations  have 
been  proposed,  e.g.  '  oneraires'  '  moneyers,'  '  seignors'  'owners' 
'  mynheers,' '  overseers'  etc. 

II.  iii.  90.  'I'll  break  thy  little  finger'  an  ancient  token  of 
amorous  dalliance,  as  Steevens  has  shown  by  quotations. 

II.  iv.  '  Boar's-Head  Tavern,'  the  original  tavern  in  Eastcheap 
was  burnt  down  in  the  great  fire,  but  was  subsequently  rebuilt,  and 
stood  until  1757,  when  it  was  demolished.  Goldsmith  visited  the 
tavern,  and  wrote  of  it  enthusiastically  in  his  Essays. 

11.  iv.  131.  'pitiful-hearted  Titan,'  so  the  early  editions:  Theo- 
bald suggested  '  butter'  for  '  Titan,'  and  the  emendation  has  been 
generally  adopted. 

II.  iv.  134.  '  here's  lime  in  this  sack'  cp.  Sir  Richard  Hawkins' 
statement  in  his  Voyages,  that  the  Spanish  sacks  "  for  conserva- 
tion are  mingled  with  the  lime  in  the  making,"  and  hence  give 

159 


Notes 


THE  FIRST  PART  OF 


rise  to  "the  stone,  the  dropsy,  and  infinite  other  distempers,  not 
heard  of  before  this  wine  came  into  frequent  use." 

II.  iv.  144.  '/  would  I  were  a  weaver';  weavers  were  good 
singers,  especially  of  psalms,  most  of  them  being  Calvinists  who 
had  fled  from  Flanders,  to  escape  persecution. 

II.  iv.  148.  '  dagger  of  lath,'  like  that  carried  by  the  Vice  in  the 
old  Morality  plays. 

II.  iv.  261.  'you  elf -skin';  so  the  Quartos  and  Folios;  Hanmer, 
'  eel-skin  '  (cp.  2  Henry  IV.  III.  ii.  345)  ;  Johnson,  '  elf  kin.' 

II.  iv.  362.  '  O,  Glendower'  (?)  perhaps  we  should  read,  '  Owen 
Glendower.' 

II.  iv.  413.  '  King  Cambyses'  vein ' ;  an  allusion  to  a  ranting 
play  called  'A  Lamentable  Tragedie,  mixed  full  of  pleasant 
mirth,  containing  the  Life  of  Cambises,  King  of  Persia'  (1570). 

II.  iv.  427.  The  camomile,  etc.,  cp.  Lyly's  Euphues  (quoted  by 
Farmer)  :  '  Though  the  camomile  the  more  it  is  trodden  and 
pressed  down,  the  more  it  spreadeth;  yet  the  violet  the  oftener  it 
is  handled  and  touched,  the  sooner  it  withereth  and  decayeth.' 

II.  iv.  484.  'that  reverend  vice,'  etc.,  alluding  to  the  Vice  of  the 
Morality  plays ;  '  Iniquity '  and  '  Vanity '  were  among  the  names 
given  to  the  character,  according  to  the  particular  '  Vice '  held  up 
to  ridicule. 

II.  iv.  527.  '  mad,'  Folios  3,  4 ;  the  rest  '  made' 
II.  iv.  534.  '  The  devil  on  a  fiddle  stick'  a  proverbial  expression 

denoting  anything  new  and 
strange,  which  may  have 
originated  in  the  Puritan  dis- 
like to  music  and  dancing. 
Hence  perhaps  the  common 
notion  of  fiends  and  witches 
riding  on  brooms  as  in  ac- 
companying illustration  from 
an  old  chap-book. 

II.  iv.  563.  '  Peto  ' ;  probably 
*  Poins,'  according  to  John- 
son ;  perhaps,  the  prefix  in 
the  MS.  was  simply  '  P.'  The 
Cambridge  editors,  however, 
remark  that  the  formal  ad- 
dress is  appropriate  to  Peto  rather  than  to  Poins. 

III.  i.  150.,  etc.  '  telling  tne  of  the  moldwarp,'  cp.  Legend  of 
Glendour  (stanza  23)  in  The  Mirror  for  Magistrates,  1559^ 

160 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Notes 

"And  for  it  to  set  us  hereon  more  agog, 
A  prophet  came  (a  vengeance  take  them  all!) 
Affirming  Henry  to  be  Gogmagog, 
Whom  Merlin  doth  a  mouldwarp  ever  call. 
Accurst  of  God,  that  must  be  brought  in  thrall 
By  a  zi'olf,  a  dragon,  and  a  lion  strong. 
Which  should  divide  his  kingdom  them  among." 

III.  i.  160,161.  Compare  Chaucer,  Canterbury  Tales,  5860: — 

"  Thou  saist,  that  dropping  Jwuscs,  and  eek  smoke, 
And  chiding  wives  maken  men  to  Uee 
Out  of  her  owen  hous  " ; 

Vaughan  adds  the  following : — "  It  is  singular  that  Shakespeare 
should  have  combined  two  annoyances  commemorated  together  by 
an  old  Welsh  proverb,  which  I  would  translate : 

'  Three  things  zvill  drive  a  man  from  home: 
A  roof  that  leaks, 
A  house  that  reeks, 
A  zvife  who  scolds  whene'er  she  speaks.'" 

III.  ii.  32.  'Thy  place  in  council  thou  hast  rudely  lost,'  i.e.  *  by 
thy  rude  or  violent  conduct ' ;  there  is  an  anachronism  here,  as  the 
Prince  was  removed  from  the  council  for  striking  the  Chief 
Justice  in  1403,  some  years  after  the  battle  of  Shrewsbury. 

III.  ii.  38.  '  doth ' ;  Quartos  and  Folios,  '  do,'  which  may  be  ex- 
plained as  due  to  the  plural  implied  in  '  every  man  ' ;  Rowe, '  does ' ; 
Collier  MS.,  '  doth! 

III.  ii.  62.  'carded  his  state';  'to  card'  is  often  used  in  Eliza- 
bethan English  in  the  sense  of  '  to  mix,  or  debase  by  mixing ' 
(e.g.  "  You  card  your  beer  if  you  see  your  guests  begin  to  get 
drunk,  half  small,  half  strong,"  Green's  Quip  for  an  Upstart  Cour- 
tier) ;  Warburton  suggested  '  carded '  "  'scarded,"  i.e.  "  dis- 
carded " ;  but  the  former  explanation  is  undoubtedly  correct.  '  To 
stir  and  mix  with  cards,  to  stir  together,  to  mix ' ;  the  meaning  is 
brought  out  by  a  quotation  from  Topsell's  Four-footed  Beasts 
(1607),  "  As  for  his  diet,  let  it  be  warm  mashes,  sodden  wheat  and 
hay,  ihoroughly  carded  with  wool-cards." 

III.  ii.  154.  'if  He  be  pleased  I  shall  perform';  the  reading  of 
Quartos;  Folio  i,  'if  I  performe,  and  doe  survive';  Folios  2,3,4, 
'"  if  r promise,  and  doe  survive,"  etc. 

III.  ii.  164.  'Lord  Mortimer  of  Scotland/  a  mistake  for  Lord 

161 


Notes 


THE  FIRST  PART  OF 


A  vessel  of  the  early  X  Vth  century, 
the  seal  of  John  Holland,  Lord  Admiral 
of  England,  1417. 


March  of  Scotland,  George  Dunbar,  who  took  sides  with  the 
English. 

III.  iii.  29.  *  lantern  in  poop.' 
(Cp.  illustration.) 

III.  iii.  38.  'By  this  fire, 
that's  God's  angel';  the  latter 
words  omitted  in  Folios  and 
Quartos  after  Quarto  2 ;  evi- 
dently a  familiar  expression. 
Vaughan  thinks  the  allusion  is 
to  Hebrews  i.  7 ;  but  it  is  more 
probably  to  Exodus  iii.  2. 

III.  iii.  139.  '  neither  fish  nor 
flesh,'     alluding     to     the     old 
proverb,     "  Neither     fish     nor 
From  flesh,  nor  good  red  herring." 

III.  iii.  164.  'I  pray  God  my 
girdle  break ' ;  an  allusion  to 
the  old  adage,  "  ungirt,  unblessed";  the  breaking  of  the  girdle 
was  formerly  a  serious  matter,  as  the  purse  generally  hung  on  to 
the  girdle,  and  would,  in  the  event  of  the  girdle  breaking,  prob- 
ably be  lost. 

IV.  i.  31.  '  that  inward  sickness—' ;  Rowe  first  suggested  the 
dash  in  place  of  the  comma  of  the  early  editions ;  the  sentence  is 
suddenly  broken  off. 

IV.  i.  85. '  term  of  fear';  the  Folios  and  later  Quartos  (7  and  8) 
'  dream '  for  'term' 

IV.  i.  98.  'All  plumed  .  .  .  wing  the  wind';  the  Camb.  ed. 
read : — 

"All  plumed  like  estridges  that  with  the  wind 
Baited  like  eagles  having  lately  bathed ' ; 

this,  the  reading  of  the  early  editions,  has  been  variously  emended ; 
Steevens  and  Maloiie  suggested  that  a  line  has  dropt  out  after 
zvind,  and  the  former  (too  boldly)  proposed  as  the  missing  line  :— 

"Run  on,  in  gallant  trim  they  now  advance"; 

on  the  other  hand,  Rowe's  proposal  to  read  'wing  the  wind'  for 
'with'  has  had  many  supporters,  though  it  is  said  that  'wing  the 
wind '  applies  to  ostriches  less  than  to  any  other  birds ;  Dyce,  how- 
ever, quotes  a  passage  from  Claudian  {In  Eutropium  II.,  3^0-313) 
to  justify  it: — 

162 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Notes 

"  Fasta  vi'lut  Libya:  venantum  vocihus  ales 
Cum  pretnitur,  calidas  cursu  transmittet  arenas, 
Inque  modum  veli  sinuatis  Hamina  pennis 
Pulverulenta  vulat " ; 

the  Cambridge  editors  maintain  that  this  means  that  the  bird 
spreads  its  wings  like  a  sail  bellying  with  the  wind — a  different 
thing  from  '  winging  the  wind.'  "  But  the  Cambridge  editors," 
Dyce  replies,  '*  take  no  notice  of  the  important  word  volat,  by 
which  Claudian  means,  of  course,  that  the  ostrich,  when  once  her 
wings  are  filled  zvith  the  wind,  Hies  along  the  ground  (though  she 
does  not  mount  into  the  air)";  he  adds  the  following  apt  quota- 
tion from  Rogers : — 

"Such  to  their  grateful  ear  the  gush  of  springs 
Who  course  the  ostrich,  as  away  she  wings." 

Columbus,  Canto  viii. 

baited  =  baiting;  to  bait  or  bate  =  "  to  flap  the  wings,  as  the 
hawk  did  when  unhooded  and  ready  to  fly." 

'having  lately  bathed';  "writers  on  falconry,"  says  Steevens. 
"  often  mention  the  bathing  of  hawks  and  eagles  as  highly  neces- 
sary for  their  health  and  spirits.  All  birds,  after  bathing,  spread 
out  their  wings  to  catch  the  wind,  and  flutter  violently  with  them 
in  order  to  dry  themselves.  This,  in  the  falconer's  language,  is 
called  bating." 

IV.  ii.  29.  *" younger  sons  to  younger  brothers'  i.e.  '  men  of  des- 
perate fortune  and  wild  adventure ' ;  the  phrase,  as  Johnson 
pointed  out,  occurs  in  Raleigh's  Discourse  on  War. 

V.  i.  Stage  direction.  The  Quartos  and  Folios  make  the  Earl 
of  Westmoreland  one  of  the  characters;  but,  as  Malone  pointed 
out,  he  was  in  the  rebel  camp  as  a  pledge  for  Worcester's  safe 
conduct. 

V.  i.  13.  'old  limbs'',  Henry  was,  in  reality,  only  thirty  years 
old  at  this  time. 

V.  ii.  8.  'suspicion' ;  Rowe's  emendation  for  'supposition'  of 
the  early  editions.  Johnson  points  out  that  the  same  image  of 
'  suspicion '  is  exhibited  in  a  Latin  tragedy,  called  Roxana,  written 
about  the  same  time  by  Dr.  William  Alabaster. 

V.  ii.  18.  '  adopted  name  of  privilege,'  i.e.  the  name  of  Hotspur 
will  suggest  that  his  temperament  must  be  his  excuse. 

V.  ii.  33.  '  Douglas '  must  here  be  read  as  a  trisyllable. 

V.  ii.  60.  'By  still  dispraising  praise  valued  with  you' ;  omitted 
by  Pope  and  others  as  'foolish,'  but  defended  by  Johnson — "to 

163 


Notes  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

vilify  praise,  compared  or  valued  with  merit,  superior  to  praise, 
is  no  harsh  expression." 

V.  ii.  72.  'so  wild  a  libertine';  Capell's  emendation  for  the 
reading  of  the  Folios,  'at  lihertie,'  and  Quartos  1-4  'a  libertie  ' ; 
Theobald  punctuated  the  line  thus :  '  of  any  prince,  so  wild,  at  lib- 
erty' ;  others  proposed  '  zvild  0'  liberty/  which  Collier  erroneously 
declared  to  be  the  reading  of  the  three  oldest  Quartos. 

V.  iii.  46,  47.  '  Turk  Gregory  never  did  such  deeds  in  arms ' ; 
Warburton  observes : — "  Fox,  in  his  History,  hath  made  Gregory 
{i.e.  Pope  Gregory  VII.,  called  Hildebrand)  so  odious  that  I  don't 
doubt  but  the  good  Protestants  of  that  time  were  well  pleased  to 
hear  him  thus  characterized,  as  uniting  the  attributes  of  their  two 
great  enemies,  the  Turk  and  Pope,  in  one." 

V.  iv.  81.  'But  thought's  the  slave  of  life,'  etc.;  Dyce  and 
'Others  prefer  the  reading  of  Quarto  i.: — 

'  But  thoughts  the  slaves  of  life,  and  life  time's  fool. 
And  time  that  takes  suri'cy  of  all  the  zvorld, 
Must  have  a  stop: 

i.e.  "  Thoughts,  which  are  the  slaves  of  life,  aye,  and  life  itself, 
which  is  but  the  fool  of  Time,  aye,  and  Time  itself,  which  meas- 
ures the  existence  of  the  whole  world,  must  come  to  an  end  " 
(Vaughan). 

V.  iv.  167.  '  Grozv  great,'  so  Quartos;  Folios,  'grow  great 
again.' 

V.  v.  41.  'sway';  Folios  and  later  Quartos  'way.' 


T64 


KING  HENRY  IV. 


Explanatory  Notes. 

The  Explanatory  Notes  in  this  edition  have  been  specially  selected  and 
adapted,  with  emendations  after  the  latest  and  best  authorities,  from  the 
most  eminent  Shakespearian  scholars  and  commentators,  including  Johnson, 
Alalone,  Steevens,  Singer,  Dyce,  Hudson,  White,  Furness,  Dowden,  and 
others.  This  method,  here  introduced  for  the  first  time,  provides  the  best 
annotation  of  Shakespeare  ever  embraced  in  a  single  edition. 

ACT  FIRST. 
Scene  I. 

34-46.  My  liege,  etc. : — The  matter  of  the  passage  is  thus  re- 
lated by  Holinshed :  "  Owen  Glendower,  according  to  his  ac- 
customed manner  robbing  and  spoiling  within  the  English  bor- 
ders, caused  all  the  forces  of  the  shire  of  Hereford  to  assemble 
togither  against  him,  under  the  conduct  of  Edmund  Mortimer, 
Earle  of  March.  But  comming  to  trie  the  matter  by  battell, 
whether  by  treason  or  otherwise,  so  it  fortuned,  that  the  English 
power  was  discomfitted,  the  earle  taken  prisoner,  and  above  a 
thousand  of  his  people  slaine  in  the  place.  The  shamefull  villanie 
used  by  the  Welshwomen  towards  the  dead  carcasses  was  such  as 
honest  eares  would  be  ashamed  to  heare,  and  continent  toongs  to 
speake  thereof.  The  dead  bodies  might  not  be  buried,  without 
great  summes  of  monie  given  for  libertie  to  conveie  them  awaie." 

92-95.  the  prisoners,  etc. : — Percy  had  an  exclusive  right  to  these 
prisoners,  except  the  Earl  of  Fife.  By  the  law  of  arms,  every  man 
who  had  taken  any  captive,  whose  redemption  did  not  exceed  ten 
thousand  crowns,  had  him  clearly  to  himself  to  acquit  or  ransom 
at  his  pleasure.  But  Percy  could  not  refuse  the  Earl  of  Fife ; 
for,  he  being  a  prince  of  the  royal  blood,  Henry  might  justly  claim 
him,  by  his  acknowledged  military  prerogative. 

Scene  II. 

2.  [Prince.']  We  see  the  Prince,  as  Brandes  says,  "  plunginp^ 
into  the  most  boyish  and  thoughtless  diversions,  in  company  with 

165 


Notes  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

topers,  tavern-wenches,  and  pot-boys ;  but  we  see,  also,  that  he  is 
magnanimous,  and  full  of  profound  admiration  for  Harry  Percy, 
that  admiration  for  a  rival  of  which  Percy  himself  was  incapable. 
And  he  rises,  ere  long,  above  this  world  of  triviality  and  make- 
believe  to  the  true  height  of  his  nature.  His  alert  self-esteem,  his 
immovable  self-confidence,  can  early  be  traced  in  minor  touches. 
When  Falstaff  asks  him  if  '  his  blood  does  not  thrill '  to  think  of 
the  alliance  between  three  such  formidable  foes  as  Percy,  Douglas, 
and  Glendower,  he  dismisses  with  a  smile  all  idea  of  fear.  A  little 
later,  he  plays  upon  his  truncheon  of  command  as  upon  a  fife.  He 
has  the  great  carelessness  of  the  great  natures ;  he  does  not  even 
lose  it  when  he  feels  himself  unjustly  suspected.  At  bottom  he  is 
a  good  brother,  a  good  son,  a  great  patriot;  and  he  has  the 
makings  of  a  great  ruler." 

Ill,  112.  'tis  my  vocation,  etc.: — We  shall  err  greatly,  if  we  be- 
lieve all  that  Shakespeare's  characters  say  of  themselves ;  for,  like 
other  men,  they  do  not  see  themselves  as  others  see  them,  nor  in- 
deed as  they  are.  And  this  especially  in  case  of  Sir  John,  who 
seldom  speaks  of  himself  even  as  he  sees  himself;  that  is,  he 
speaks  for  art,  not  for  truth :  and  a  part  of  his  humour  lies  in  all 
sorts  of  caricatures  and  exaggerations  about  himself;  what  he 
says  being  often  designed  on  purpose  to  make  himself  a  laughing- 
stock, that  he  may  join  in  the  laughter.  Such  appears  to  be  the 
case  in  what  he  here  charges  himself  with.  For  his  vocation 
throughout  the  play  is  that  of  a  soldier,  which  is  also  the  vocation 
of  the  Prince.  But  the  trade  of  a  soldier  was  at  that  time  notori- 
ously trimmed  and  adorned  with  habits  of  plundering;  so  that 
to  set  it  forth  as  a  purse-taking  vocation,  was  but  a  stroke  of 
humorous  exaggeration,  finely  spiced  with  satire,  both  as  re- 
garded the  Prince  and  himself.  The  exploit  at  Gadshill  is  the 
only  one  of  the  kind  that  we  hear  of  in  the  play. 

120.  Sack  and  Sugar: — A  deal  of  learned  ink  has  been  shed  in 
discussing  what  Sir  John's  favourite  beverage  might  be.  The 
learned  archdeacon  Nares  has  pretty  much  proved  it  to  have  been 
the  Spanish  wine  now  called  Sherry.  Thus  in  Blount's  Glosso- 
graphias  "  Sherry  sack,  so  called  from  Xeres,  a  town  of  Corduba 
in  Spain,  where  that  kind  of  sack  is  made."  And  in  Markham's 
English  Housewife :  "  Your  best  sacks  are  of  Seres  in  Spaine." 
And  indeed  Falstaff  expressly  calls  it  sherris-sack.  The  latter 
part  of  the  name,  sack,  is  thought  to  have  come  from  its  being  a 
dry  wine,  vin  sec ;  and  it  was  formerly  written  seek.  It  appears, 
however,  that  there  were  divers  sacks.    Thus  in  Howell's  Londin- 

i66 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Notes 

opolis:  "I  read  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  that  no  sweet  wines 
were  brought  into  this  reign  but  Malmseys."  And  again  :  "  More- 
over no  sacks  were  sold  but  Rumney,  and  that  for  medicine  more 
than  drink,  but  now  viany  kinds  of  sacks  are  known  and  used." 
And  still  more  conclusively  in  Venners's  Fia  Recta  ad  Vitam 
Longam,  1637 :  "  But  what  I  have  spoken  of  mixing  sugar  with 
sack,  must  be  understood  of  Sherrie  sack,  for  to  mix  sugar  with 
other  wines,  that  in  a  common  appellation  are  called  sack,  and  are 
sweeter  in  taste,  makes  it  unpleasant  to  the  pallat,  and  fulsome  to 
the  taste." 

Scene  III. 

29  et  seq.  [Hotspur.]  Shakespeare  has  put  forth  all  his  poetic 
strength  in  giving  to  Percy's  speeches,  and  especially  to  his  de- 
scriptions, the  most  graphic  definiteness  of  detail,  and  a  natural- 
ness which  raises  into  higher  sphere  the  racy  audacity  of  Faulcon- 
bridge.  Hotspur  sets  about  explaining  how  it  happened  that  he 
refused  to  hand  over  his  prisoners  to  the  King,  and  begins  his 
defence  by  describing  the  courtier  who  demanded  them  of  him ; 
but  he  is  not  content  with  a  general  outline,  or  with  relating  what 
this  personage  said  with  regard  to  the  prisoners ;  he  gives  ex- 
amples even  of  his  talk.  Why  this  dwelling  upon  trivial  and 
ludicrous  details?  Because  it  is  a  touch  of  reality  and  begets  illu- 
sion. Precisely  because  v/e  cannot  at  first  see  the  reason  why 
Percy  should  recall  such  trifling  circumstances,  it  seems  impos- 
sible that  the  thing  should  be  a  mere  invention.  Henry  Percy 
stands  before  our  eyes,  covered  with  dust  and  blood,  as  on  the 
field  of  Holmedon.  We  see  the  courtier  at  his  side  holding  his 
nose  as  the  bodies  are  carried  past,  and  we  hear  him  giving  the 
young  commander  his  medical  advice  and  irritating  him  to  the 
verge  of  frenzy. 

34,  35.  his  chin  new  reap'd,  etc. : — To  understand  this  the  reader 
should  bear  in  mind  that  the  courtier's  beard,  according  to  the 
fashion  in  the  Poet's  time,  would  not  be  closely  shaved,  but  shorn 
or  trimmed,  and  would  therefore  show  like  a  stubble-land  new 
reap'd. 

83.  that  great  magician,  damn'd  Glendower : — The  reputed 
magic  of  Glendower  is  thus  set  forth  by  Holinshed :  "  About  mid 
August  [1402]  the  King  went  with  a  great  power  of  men  into 
Wales,  but  in  effect  he  lost  his  labour;  for  Owen  conveied  him- 
selfe  cut  of  the  waie  into  his  knowen  lurking  places,  and  (as  was 

167 


Notes  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

thought)  through  art  magike  he  caused  such  foule  weather  of 
winds,  tempest,  raine,  snow,  and  haile  to  be  raised  for  the  an- 
noiance  of  the  Kings  armie,  that  the  like  had  not  beene  heard  of; 
in  such  sort,  that  the  King  was  constreined  to  returne  home,  hav- 
ing caused  his  people  yet  to  spoile  and  burne  first  a  great  part  of 
the  countrie." 

84,85.  Whose  daughter,  etc.: — So  in  Holinshed:  "Edmund 
Mortimer,  Earle  of  March,  prisoner  with  Owen  Glendour,  whether 
for  irksomnesse  of  cruell  captivitie,  or  feare  of  death,  or  for  what 
other  cause,  it  is  uncerteine,  agreed  to  take  part  with  Owen  against 
the  King  of  England,  and  tooke  to  wife  the  daughter  of  the  said 
Owen."  But  the  Mortimer,  who  had  been  sent  into  Wales,  was 
not  the  Earl  of  March,  but  Sir  Edmund  Mortimer,  uncle  to  the 
earl,  and  therefore  perhaps  distrusted  by  the  King,  as  the  natural 
protector  of  his  nephew.  At  this  time  the  Earl  of  March  was  but 
about  ten  years  old,  and  was  held  in  safe  keeping  at  Windsor. 
The  mistake  runs  through  Holinshed's  chapter  on  the  reign  of 
Henry  IV.,  and  was  not  original  with  him. 

106.  hid  his  crisp  head: — The  same  image  occurs  in  Beaumont 
and  Fletcher's  Loyal  Subject:  "  The  Volga  trembled  at  his  terror, 
and  hid  his  seven  curled  heads."  Likewise  in  one  of  Jonson's 
Masques : — 

"  The  rivers  run  as  smoothed  by  his  hand. 
Only  their  heads  are  crisped  by  his  stroke." 

In  1762  some  very  profound  genius  put  forth  A  Dialogue  on 
Taste,  wherein  the  passage  in  the  text  is  commented  on  thus : 
"  Nature  could  never  have  pointed  out,  that  a  river  was  capable  of 
cowardice,  or  that  it  was  consistent  with  the  character  of  a  gentle- 
man such  as  Percy,  to  say  the  thing  that  was  not."  A  piece  of 
criticism  which,  though  hugely  curious,  probably  need  not  be 
criticised.  Yet  we  might  ask  whether  Milton  be  not  guilty  of  an 
equal  sin  against  nature,  when  he  represents  Sabrina,  a  tutelary 
power  of  the  Severn,  as  rising,  attended  by  water  nymphs  and 
singing,— 

"  By  the  rushy- fringed  bank. 
Where  grows  the  willow,  and  the  osier  dank, 
My  sliding  chariot  stays." 

146.  next  of  blood : — Roger  Mortimer,  Earl  of  March,  was  de- 
clared heir  apparent  to  the  crown  in  1385,  but  was  killed  in  Ireland 
in  1398.     The  person  proclaimed  by  Richard  II.  previous  to  his 

m 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Notes 

last  voyage  to  Ireland,  was  Edmund  Mortimer,  son  of  Roger.  He 
was  not  Lady  Percy's  brother,  but  her  nephew.  He  was  the  un- 
doubted heir  to  the  crown  after  the  death  of  Richard. 

201,  202.  By  heaven,  etc. : — Kreyssig  contrasts  Hotspur's  passion 
for  honour  with  Falstaff's  indifference  to  it  (V.  i.)  :  "  Can  honour 
set  to  a  leg?  no:  or  an  arm?  no:  or  take  away  the  grief  of  a 
wound?  no."  Henry,  in  this  matter,  is  equally  remote  from  Fal- 
staff  and  from  Hotspur. 

230.  sivord-and-biickler : — The  meaning  and  force  of  this  epithet 
ar'j  well  shown  by  a  passage  in  Slowe's  Survey  of  London  :  "  This 
field,  commonly  called  West  Smithiield,  was  for  many  years  called 
Ruffians'  Hall,  by  reason  it  was  the  usual  place  for  frayes  and 
common  fighting,  during  the  time  that  sword  and  bucklers  were 
in  use ;  when  every  se>i'i>ig  man,  from  the  base  to  the  best,  carried 
a  buckler  at  his  back,  which  hung  by  the  hilt  or  pomel  of  his 
sivord."  And  John  Florio,  in  his  First  Friiites,  1578:  "What 
weapons  bear  they?  Some  sword  and  dagger,  some  sword  and 
buckler.  What  weapon  is  that  buckler?  A  clownish  dastardly 
weapon,  and  not  fit  for  a  gentleman." 

ACT  SECOND. 
Scene  I. 

[An  inn  yard.]  "  No  sooner,"  says  Brandes,  "  has  the  rebellion 
been  hatched  in  the  royal  palace  than  the  second  Act  opens  with 
a  scene  in  an  inn  yard  on  the  Dover  road.  It  is  just  daybreak; 
some  carriers  cross  the  yard  with  their  lanterns,  going  to  the 
stable  to  saddle  their  horses ;  they  hail  each  other,  gossip,  and 
tell  each  other  how  they  have  passed  the  night.  Not  a  word  do 
they  £ay  about  Prince  Henry  or  Falstaff;  they  talk  of  the  price 
of  oats,  and  of  how  *  this  house  is  turned  upside  down  since  Robin 
Ostler  died.'  Their  speeches  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  action ; 
they  merely  sketch  its  locality  and  put  the  audience  in  tune  for  it; 
but  seldom  in  poetry  has  so  much  been  effected  in  so  few  words. 
The  night  sky,  with  Charles'  Wain  '  over  the  new  chimney,'  the 
flickering  gleam  of  the  lanterTis  in  the  dirty  yard,  the  fresh  air  of 
the  early  dawn,  the  misty  atmosphere,  the  mingled  odour  of  damp 
peas  and  beans,  of  bacon  and  ginger,  all  comes  straight  home  to 
our  senses.  The  situation  takes  hold  of  us  with  all  the  irresistible 
force  of  reality." 

169 


Notes  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

12,  13.  the  price  of  oats: — The  price  of  grain  was  very  high  in 
1596;  which  may  L_.ve  put  Shakespeare  upon  making  poor  Robin 
thus  die  of  one  idea. 

22,  breeds  fleas  like  a  loach : — It  appears  from  a  passage  in  Hol- 
land's translation  of  Pliny  that  anciently  fishes  were  supposed  to 
be  infested  with  f^eas :  "  Last  of  all  some  fishes  there  be  which  of 
themselves  are  given  to  breed  fleas  and  lice;  among  which  the 
chalcis,  a  kind  of  turgot,  is  one."  The  meaning  here,  however, 
appears  to  be,  "  breeds  fleas  as  fast  as  a  loach  breeds  loaches  " ; 
the  loach  being  reckoned  a  peculiarly  prolific  fish. 

2S.  turkeys: — This  is  one  of  the  Poet's  anachronisms.  Turkeys 
were  not  brought  into  England  until  the  reign  of  Henry  VHI. 

36.  two  o'clock: — The  Carrier  has  just  said,  "An  it  be  not  four 
by  the  day,  I  '11  be  hanged."  Probably  he  suspects  Gadshill,  and 
tries  to  mislead  him, 

53-56-  quoth  the  chamberlain,  etc. : — The  chamberlain  was  a  tav- 
ern officer  or  servant.  Attendants  of  this  class  often  conspired 
with  highwaymen  and  shared  in  their  booty.  Thus  in  The  Life 
and  Death  of  Gamaliel  Ratsey,  1605:  '"He  dealt  with  the  cham- 
berlain e  cf  the  house,  to  learn  which  way  they  went  in  the  morn- 
ing, which  the  chamberlaine  performed  accordingly,  and  that  with 
great  care  and  diligence,  for  he  knew  he  should  partake  of  their 
fortunes  if  they  sped." 

Scene  II. 

2.  frets  like  a  gummed  velvet : — Thus  in  The  Malcontent,  1604 : 
"  I  '11  come  among  you,  like  gum  into  taffata,  to  fret,  fret."  Velvet 
and  taffeta  were  sometimes  stiffened  with  gum ;  but  the  conse- 
quence was,  that  the  stuff  being  thus  hardened  quickly  rubbed  and 
fretted  itself  out. 

Scene  III. 

[Enter  Hotspur  solus,  reading  a  letter.]  This  letter  was  from 
George  Dunbar,  Earl  of  March,  in  Scotland. 

39.  Kate : — Shakespeare  either  mistook  the  name  of  Hotspur's 
wife,  which  was  Elisabeth,  or  else  designedly  changed  it,  out  of  the 
remarkable  fondness  he  seems  to  have  had  for  the  name  of  Kate. 
Hall  and  Holinshed  call  her  erroneously  Elinor. 

170 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Notes 

Scene  IV. 

[The  Boar's-Head  Tavern.]  Ulrici  says:  "  Between  the  purely 
historical  elements  to  which  we  have  hitherto  confined  our  atten- 
tion, and  which  Shakespeare's  masterly  skill  has  combined  into  a 
grand  and  harmonious  work  of  art — between  this  purely  historical 
representation  which  is  based  entirely  upon  a  serious  and  profound 
contemplation  of  history,  there  are  interspersed,  in  both  parts  of 
the  drama,  scenes  of  an  entirely  comic  character,  not  merely  to 
ridicule  the  serious  aspect  presented  by  history,  but  which  seem 
to  stand  in  no  sort  of  inner  connection  with  the  action  or  with  the 
motives  forming  its  basis.  Falstatf  and  his  boon  companions 
Poins,  Peto,  Pistol,  Bardolph,  Mrs.  Quickly,  etc.,  are  wholly  un- 
historical  persons.  No  sort  of  affinity  can  be  proved  to  exist  be- 
tween the  J.  Falstolfe  who  commanded  in  the  so-called  Bataille 
des  Harengs  under  Henry  VI.,  and  our  knight  (Sir  John)  ; 
Shakespeare  assuredly  never  thought  of  any  such  connection  (as 
is  proved  even  by  the  difference  of  the  name,  and  still  more  by 
the  circumstance  that  the  famous  corpulent  knight,  in  Shake- 
speare, was  originally  called  Sir  John  Oldcastle,  and  rechristened 
Falstaff  only  upon  a  demand  of  the  Puritans  who  honoured  a  man 
of  the  same  name  among  their  sect).  Yet  these  scenes  fill  almost 
one  half  of  the  whole  play.  In  no  other  historical  drama  of 
Shakespeare's  do  we  find  such  a  total  division  of  the  subject.  It 
is  true  that  he  has  elsewhere  introduced  comic  and  freely  invented 
scenes,  but  always  merely  incidentally  as  intermediate  scenes, 
which,  as  such,  if  closely  examined,  always  have  their  good  mean- 
ing, inasmuch  as  they  are  intended  to  represent  some  secondary 
motive  of  the  action.  Here,  on  the  other  hand,  the  comic  and  un- 
historical  portions  are  so  strikingly  elaborate,  that  the  questions  as 
to  their  justification  becomes  a  vital  point  as  regards  the  historical 
and  aesthetic  value  of  the  whole  drama." 

17.  when  you  breathe  in  your  watering : — That  is,  when  you 
stop  and  take  breath  while  drinking.  So  in  Rowland's  Letting  of 
Humour's  Blood,  1600: — 

"  A  pox  of  piece-meal  drinking,  William  says, 
Play  it  away,  we  '11  have  no  stoppes  and  stayes ; 
Blown  drinke  is  odious;  what  man  can  digest  it? 
No  faithful  drunkard  but  he  should  detest  it." 

Thus  also  in  Peacham's  Compleat  Gentleman  :    "  If  he  dranke  off 
his  cups  cleanely,  took  not  Jiis  wind  in  his  draught,  spit  not,  left 

171 


Notes  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

nothing  in  the  pot,  nor  spilt  any  upon  the  ground,  he  had  the 
prize." 

240.  These  lies : — We  cannot  persuade  ourselves  that  F'alstaff 
thinks  of  deceiving  anybody  by  this  string  of  "  incomprehensible 
lies."  He  tells  them,  surely,  not  expecting  or  intending  them  to 
be  believed,  but  partly  for  the  pleasure  he  takes  in  the  excited  play 
of  his  faculties,  partly  for  the  surprise  he  causes  by  his  still  more 
incomprehensible  feats  of  dodging;  that  is,  they  are  studied  self- 
exposures  to  invite  an  attack ;  that  he  may  provoke  his  hearers  to 
come  down  upon  him,  and  then  witch  them  with  his  facility  and 
felicity  in  extricating  himself.  Thus  his  course  here  is  all  of  a 
piece  with  his  usual  practice  of  surrounding  himself  with  diffi- 
culties, the  better  to  exercise  and  evince  his  incomparable  fertility 
and  alertness  of  thought ;  as  knowing  that  the  more  he  entangles 
himself  in  his  talk,  the  richer  will  be  the  effect  when  by  a  word 
he  slips  off  the  entanglement.  We  shrewdly  suspect  that  he  knew 
the  truth  all  the  while,  but  determined  to  fall  in  with  and  humour 
the  joke,  on  purpose  to  make  sport  for  himself  and  the  Prince; 
and  at  the  same  time  to  retort  their  deception  by  pretending  to  be 
ignorant  of  their  doings  and  designs.  At  all  events,  we  must 
needs  think  it  were  a  huge  impeachment  of  his  sense,  to  suppose 
that  in  telling  such  gross  and  palpable  lies  he  has  any  thought  of 
being  believed. 

288,  289.  should  I  turn,  etc. : — The  logic  of  this  passage  even 
beats  the  wit,  fine  as  is  the  latter.  The  Prince  was  not  "  the  true 
prince,"  according  to  the  settled  rule  of  succession.  The  logic  is, 
that  none  but  a  man  composed  and  framed  of  royalty  could  inspire 
a  lion  with  such  fear ;  and  on  the  other  hand  no  beast  but  the  lion 
is  brave  and  gentle  enough  to  feel  this  instinctive  respect  for 
royalty.  So  that  Falstaff's  running  from  him  proves  him  to  be 
what  he  is  not,  and  is  alike  honourable  to  them  both. 

535.  hide  thee  behind  the  arras: — When  arras  was  first  brought 
into  England,  it  was  suspended  on  small  hooks  driven  into  the 
walls  of  houses  and  castles ;  but  this  practice  was  soon  discon- 
tinued. After  the  damp  of  the  stone  and  brickwork  had  been 
found  to  rot  the  tapestry,  it  was  fixed  on  frames  of  wood  at  such 
distance  from  the  wall  as  prevented  the  damp  from  being  injuri- 
ous ;  large  spaces  were  thus  left  between  the  arras  and  the  walls, 
sufficient  to  contain  even  one  of  Falstaff's  bulk.  Our  old  drama- 
tists avail  themselves  of  this  convenient  hiding-place  upon  all  oc- 
casions. 

547,  548.  The  man,  etc. : — Shakespeare  has  been  blamed  for  ma- 

172 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Notes 

king  the  Prince  utter  this  falsehood.  Surely  the  blame  were  more 
justly  visited  on  the  Prince  than  on  the  Poet.  Shakespeare  did 
not  mean  to  set  forth  the  connection  with  Falstaff  as  altogether 
harmless;  and  if  he  had  done  so,  he  would  have  been  untrue  to 
nature.  The  Prince  is  indeed  censurable ;  yet  not  so  much  for 
telling  the  falsehood  as  for  letting  himself  into  a  necessity  either 
to  do  so,  or  to  betray  his  accomplice.  What  he  does  is  bad 
enough ;  but  were  it  not  still  worse  to  expose  Falstaff  in  an  act 
which  himself  has  countenanced? 


ACT  THIRD. 
Scene  I. 

[Hotspur.]  From  first  to  last,  from  top  to  toe,  Hotspur  is  the 
hero  of  the  feudal  ages,  indifferent  to  culture  and  polish,  faithful 
to  his  brother-in-arms  to  the  point  of  risking  everything  lor  his 
sake,  caring  neither  for  state,  king,  nor  commons ;  a  rebel,  not  for 
the  sake  of  any  political  idea,  but  because  independence  is  all  in 
all  to  him;  a  proud,  self-reliant,  unscrupulous  vassal,  who,  him- 
self a  sort  of  sub-king,  has  deposed  one  king,  and  wants  to  de- 
pose the  usurper  he  has  exalted,  because  he  has  not  kept  his  prom- 
ises. Clothed  in  renown,  and  ever  more  insatiate  of  military 
honour,  he  is  proud  from  independence  of  spirit  and  truthful  out 
of  pride.  He  is  a  marvellous  figure  as  Shakespeare  has  projected 
him,  stammering,  absent,  turbulent,  witty,  now  simple,  now  mag- 
niloquent. His  hauberk  clatters  on  his  breast,  his  spurs  jingle  at 
his  heel,  wit  flashes  from  his  lips,  while  he  moves  and  has  his 
being  in  a  golden  nimbus  of  renown. 

12- 16.  at  my  nativity,  etc. : — The  singular  behaviour  of  nature  at 
the  birth  of  Glendcwer  is  thus  mentioned  by  Holinshed :  "  Strange 
wonders  happened  (as  men  reported)  at  the  nativitie  of  this  man; 
for  the  same  night  he  was  borne  all  his  fathers  horsses  in  the 
stable  were  found  to  stand  in  blood  up  to  the  bellies."  And  in 
1402  a  blazing  star  appeared,  which  the  Welsh  bards  construed 
as  foretokening  success  to  Glendower. 

39,  40.  So  in  the  description  of  an  earthquake  at  Catania,  quoted 
by  Malone :  "  There  was  a  blow  as  if  all  the  artillery  in  the  world 
had  been  discharged  at  once ;  the  sea  retired  from  the  town  above 
two  miles ;  the  birds  flew  about  astonished;  the  cattle  in  the  fields 
ran  crying." 

173 


Notes  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

72-79.  The  archdeacon,  etc. : — This  matter  is  thus  given  by  Hol- 
inshed :  "  They  by  their  deputies,  in  the  house  of  the  Archdeacon 
of  Bangor,  divided  the  reahnc  amongst  them,  causing  a  tripartite 
indenture  to  bee  made  and  sealed  with  their  scales,  by  the  cove- 
nants whereof  all  England  from  Severne  and  Trent,  south  and 
eastward,  was  assigned  to  the  Earle  of  March ;  all  Wales  and  the 
lands  beyond  Severne,  westward,  were  appointed  to  Owen  Glen- 
dour  ;  and  the  remnant,  from  Trent  northward,  to  the  Lord 
Persie." 

196.  my  aunt  Percy. — Hotspur's  wife  was  sister  to  Sir  Edmund 
Mortimer,  and  therefore  of  course  aunt  to  the  young  Earl  of 
March.  And  she  has  been  spoken  of  in  the  play  as  Mortimer's 
sister,  yet  he  here  calls  her  his  aunt.  From  which  it  appears  that 
Shakespeare  not  only  mistook  Sir  Edmund  for  the  Earl  of  March, 
or  rather  followed  an  authority  who  had  so  mistaken  him,  but 
sometimes  confounded  the  two. 

264.  turn  tailor : — Tailors,  like  weavers,  have  ever  been  remark- 
able for  their  vocal  skill.  Percy  is  jocular  in  his  mode  of  per- 
suading his  wife  to  sing.  The  meaning  is,  "  to  sing  is  to  put  your- 
self upon  a  level  with  tailors  and  teachers  of  birds." 


Scene  II. 

I.  the  Prince  of  Wales: — Henr>'  Percy  is  by  no  means  the  hero 
of  the  play.  He  is  only  the  foil  to  the  hero,  throwing  into  relief 
the  young  Prince's  unpretentious  nature,  his  careless  sporting  with 
rank  and  dignity,  his  light-hearted  contempt  for  all  conventional 
honour,  all  show  and  appearance.  Every  garland  with  which  Hot- 
spur wreathes  his  helm  is  destined  in  the  end  to  deck  the  brows  of 
Henry  of  Wales.  The  answer  to  Hotspur's  question  as  to  what 
has  become  of  the  madcap  Prince  of  Wales  and  his  comrades, 
shows  what  colours  Shakespeare  has  held  in  reserve  for  the  por- 
traiture of  his  true  hero. 

39-47.  Had  I  so  lavish  .  .  .  zvonder'd  at: — Brandes  says: 
"  The  political  developments  arising  from  Henry  IV. 's  wrongful 
seizure  of  the  throne  of  Richard  H.  afford  the  groundwork  of  the 
play.  The  King,  situated  partly  like  Louis  Philippe,  partly  like 
Napoleon  HL,  does  all  he  can  to  obliterate  the  memory  of  his 
usurpation.  But  he  does  not  succeed.  Why  not?  Shakespeare 
gives  a  twofold  answer.  First  there  is  the  natural,  human  reason : 
the  relation  of  characters  and  circumstances.    The  King  has  risen 

174 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Notes 

by  the  '  fell  working  '  of  his  friends ;  he  is  afraid  of  falling  again 
before  their  power.  His  position  forces  him  to  be  mistrustful,  and 
his  mistrust  repels  every  one  from  him,  first  Mortimer,  then 
Percy,  then,  as  nearly  as  possible,  his  own  son.  Secondly,  we 
have  the  prescribed  religious  reason :  that  wrong  avenges  itself, 
that  punishment  follows  upon  the  heels  of  guilt — in  a  word,  the 
so-called  principle  of  'poetic  justice.'  If  only  to  propitiate  the 
censorship  and  the  police,  Shakespeare  could  not  but  do  homage 
to  this  principle.  It  was  bad  enough  that  the  theatres  should  be 
suffered  to  exist  at  all ;  if  they  so  far  forgot  themselves  as  to  show 
vice  unpunished  and  virtue  unrewarded,  the  playwright  would 
have  to  be  sternly  brought  to  his  senses.  The  character  of  the 
King  is  a  masterpiece.  He  is  the  shrewd,  mistrustful,  circum- 
spect ruler,  who  has  made  his  way  to  the  throne  by  dint  of  smiles 
and  pressures  of  the  hand,  has  employed  every  artifice  for  making 
an  impression,  has  first  ingratiated  himself  with  the  populace  by 
his  afl^ability,  and  has  then  been  sparing  of  his  personal  presence." 
103.  in  debt  to  years: — The  Poet  with  great  dramatic  propriety 
approximates  the  ages  of  the  Prince  and  Hotspur,  for  the  better 
kindling  of  a  noble  emulation  between  them.  So  that  we  need  not 
suppose  him  ignorant  that  Hotspur  was  about  twenty  years  the 
older. 

Scene  III. 

28,29.  lantern  in  the  poop,  etc.: — So  Dekker,  in  his  Wonderful 
Year,  1603 :  "  An  antiquary  might  have  pickt  rare  matter  out  of 
his  nose.  The  Hamburghers  offered  I  know  not  how  many  dol- 
lars for  his  companie  in  an  East  India  voyage,  to  have  stood  a 
nights  in  the  poope  of  their  Admiral,  only  to  save  the  charges  of 
candles." 

79,80.  eight  shillings  an  ell: — This,  for  Holland  linen,  appears 
a  high  price  for  the  time;  but  hear  Stubbs  in  his  Anatomie  of 
Abuses:  "In  so  much  as  I  have  heard  of  shirtes  that  have  cost 
some  ten  shillings,  some  twentie,  some  fortie,  some  five  pound, 
some  twentie  nobles,  and  (whiche  is  horrible  to  heare)  some  ten 
pound  a  peece,  yea  the  meanest  shirte  that  commonly  is  worne  of 
any  doth  cost  a  crowne  or  a  noble  at  the  least;  and  yet  that  is 
scarsely  thought  fine  enough  for  the  simplest  person." 


175 


Notes  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

.  ACT  FOURTH. 
Scene  I. 

2.  In  this  Hue  age: — The  untamed  and  violent  spirit  of  feudal 
nobility,  the  reckless  and  adventurous  activity  of  the  English  race, 
the  masculine  nature  itself  in  its  uncompromising  genuineness, 
all  those  vast  and  infinite  forces  which  lie  deep  under  the  surface 
and  determine  the  life  of  a  whole  period,  a  whole  people,  and  one 
half  of  humanity,  are  at  work  in  Hotspur.  Elaborated  to  infin- 
itesimal detail,  this  character  yet  includes  the  immensities  into 
which  thought  must  plunge  if  it  would  seek  for  the  conditions  and 
ideals  of  a  historic  epoch. 

Scene  H. 

[Falstaff.]  "  Swindling,  peculation,  ill-faith,  and  fraud,"  says 
Lloyd,  "  had  never  a  better  chance  of  being  popular  than  when 
combined  with  the  exhaustless  wit,  humour,  good-humour,  and 
general  amusingness  of  Jack  Falstaff,  and  laxity  and  grossness  of 
body,  life,  and  manners  could  never  go  so  far  to  assert  their  inde- 
pendence of  necessary  viciousness  and  vileness.  as  when  bright- 
ened by  the  gleams  and  sparkles,  the  lambent  phosphorescence  and 
piercing  radiance,  of  his  equally  fanciful  and  intellectual  inven- 
tion. Yet  the  very  course  and  occasion  of  the  manifestation  of 
these  enchaining  endowments,  is  the  means  of  setting  forth  the 
natural  sequence  by  which  idleness,  frivolousness,  and  sensuality 
bring  on  and  ally  with  meanness  of  spirit  and  of  aims,  heartless- 
ness,  and  even  malice  and  murder ;  and  as  the  action  proceeds  we 
become  either  ashamed  of  our  sympathy  with  him,  or  alarmed 
at  the  risk  we  run  by  continuing  any  portion  of  it."  And  on  the 
original  of  Falstaff  Lloyd  remarks:  "  In  1597,  the  earliest  year  we 
can  trace  the  play  in  which  Falstaff  first  appeared,  the  parents  of 
Shakespeare,  doubtless  with  his  consent  and  advice,  were  parties 
to  a  suit  which  charged  the  defendant,  a  neighbour,  though  not,  it 
would  seem,  a  fellow  townsman,  with  breach  of  contract  in  refusal 
to  surrender  land  near  Stratford  for  a  valuable  consideration. 
John  Shakespeare,  as  appears  from  the  bill  in  Chancery  discov- 
ered by  Alalone,  mortgaged  the  land  he  acquired  with  his  wife  for 
£4,0  to  Edmund  Lambert,  of  Barton  on  the  Heath;  but  on  the 
tender  of  repayment  at  an  agreed  date,  thus  the  complaint  avers, 

176 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Notes 

the  money  was  refused  unless  other  moneys  owing  were  also  rm 
paid,  and  possession  of  the  property  withheld  by  Edmund  Lambe^n 
and  John,  his  son  and  heir  after  him.  ...  I  do  not  hesitren, 
therefore,  to  conclude  that  for  some  of  the  roguery  and  some  so 
the  bulk  at  least,  if  not  the  wit,  that  make  up  Jack  Falstafifi  her 
world  is  under  obligations,  and  ought  to  own  them,  to  Goo  Thus 
Lambert  of  Barton."  ledge- 

>spar- 

Scene  IV.  ^^^  "^^^f, 

-ottage. 

13-26.  /  fear,  Sir  Michael,  etc. :— Good  faith  and  muti'^  ^^^^^''^ 
dcnce  well  founded,  are  the  bond  and  tie  of  alliance,  ^^^^-^-^^ 
the  time  of  muster  comes,  the  presage  of  earlier  scenes  C  .'  ?^^^? 
ments  ill  kept,  is  fulfilled.  Northumberland  absent  sic  ^^^^^^  °* 
sick  it  turns  out ;  Owen  Glendower,  not  come  in  in  <?^^  cuckozv, 
his  prophecies;  and  Mortimer,  the  very  pretext  of  t'^  ^,^  ^cvi^^i!-^^ 
away  also;  while  of  those  who  arrive,  Vernon  ar^^^"  ^hake- 
falsify  the  royal  proposals,  and  misdeliver  the  resi^^  tieage-spar- 
bassy,  to  no  availing  end  at  last.  Lightness,  supers  .  ^ 
over-confidence,  precipitancy,  and  some  bluster  are  ■^''^"^^^  ^"^if' 
with  no  more  firmness  than  might  be  expected,  "'^  brother  the 
the  steadfast  and  deliberate  power  of  Henry  Boli 

2y,  28.  the  king  hath  drazvn,  etc. : — We  see  i) 
and  crafty  King  vexed  by  the  pride  of  the  po^ 
had  helped  him  to  the  crown  and  are  reminisce^  ^^^,6.  been  retained 
he  himself,  a  powerful  noble,  stood  in  hard^Vorcester. 
King.    There  is  jealousy,  and  distrust,  and  p 
side,  but  Henry  stands  as  the  representative  ' 
injuries  or  discontents  of  which  we  hear  no 

take  thus  the  unfavoured  part  of  disturbf'tm  :— This  is  addressed 
whose  private  wrongs,  even  as  they  state J^'  the  speech  is  soliloquy, 
sympathy,  as  they  are  at  least  as  guilty  a'  ^y^^^ble  of  this  name  and 
tion  of  civil  war  at  the  beginning  assists 
helps  the  reason  to  true  judgement  of  ^ 
In  Richard  H.  the  crown  is  borne  dov  , 

injured  and  high-spirited  nobleman  t.  ,    .  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^  p^^^  ^^^ 

contest  IS  now  to  be  renewed,  bu^^^  ^^^^^  ^j^^  catastrophe,  the 
vigour,  precaution,  and  kingly  spir^-^  p^^^  ^^^  ^^^^^e  of  feudalism 
tion  against  nobles,  high-spirited,  Syalrous  aspect.  The  barons,  in 
senting  no  national  injuries— no  ^g^   ^yho   are   more   knights   than 


Notes  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

ACT   FIFTH. 

Scene  I. 

2lter  the  King     .     .     .     and  Falstaff.]     "Henry's  reign,"  ob- 
nobi  Ulrici,  "  was  in  reality  not  disturbed  by  external  hostilities 
the  tacks,  his  government  was  internally  weak  and  corrupt ;    he 
all  th  barons  suffered  because  justice  and  morality,  the  founda- 
and  d^  political  life,  were  in  a  state  of  decay.     No  reign,  there- 
half  oso  poor  in  true  historical  action,  in  creative,   formative 
itesima^ving  ideas,  so  powerless  in  establishing  new  and  lasting 
which  tlhe  reign  was  of  historical  importance  only  as  a  transi- 
ideals  oi  in    the    further    development    of   the    great   historical 
\d  accordingly  could  not  be  passed  over.     Taken  by 
•'s  reign  turns  solely  upon  outwardly  establishing  the 
•reignty,  and  is  therefore  without  true  value,  without 

\Falstaif  ^^^°^'   ^"*^   without   progress   to   a   better    state   of 
Lloyd    "  ha^  ^^  ^^^  outward  actions  it  is  wholly  absorbed  in 
combined  wi^^    ^^^    formalities,    in    semblance    and    untruth, 
general  amusi*"^  ^^^^  Richard  II.  had  described  as  an  excellent 
body  life  and"  ^^^  present  drama,  himself  expressly  boasts  of 
pendence'of  ne — ^^  ^^^  ^^""^^^  ^"^  greatest  among  a  number  of 
ered  by  ^ he  flea  ^^  ^^  ^^"^'  ^^^  personally  in  bitter  earnest  with 
piercino-Vadlanc^^  ^^^^^  several  parts,  but  who  are  nevertheless 
tion      Yet  the  ve  ^°  ^^^'^  ^  clear  exhibition  of  this  unreality, 
these  enchaining  l;iistrionic  parade,  was — consciously  or  uncon- 
natural  sequence  iJ^tention  in  placing  the  comic  scenes  so  im- 
bring  on  and  ally  w  °^  ^^^  historical  action,   and  in  allowing 
ness.  and  even  maliccOmpany  the  course  of  the  latter." 
become  either  asham*^"^  ^^^'^  hosky,  which  has  the  same  mean- 
at  the  risk  we  run'by^  ^"ot   know,"    says    Blakeway,    "  whether 
original  of  Falstaff  Llo^  ^he  ground  of  Battlefield,  but  he  has 
can  trace  the  play  in  w'^^'^^  Haughmond  Hill  from  that  spot  as 
Shakespeare,  doubtless     still  merits  the  name  of  a  husky  hill." 
to  a  suit  which  charged  t^age,  laden  with  poetical  wealth  :- 
would  seem,  a  fellow  towiand  every  alley  green, 
to   surrender  land  near   S-H  of  this  wild  wood, 
John  Shakespeare,  as  appeatrn  from  side  to  side, 
ered  by  Malone,  mortgaged  t  ncient  neighbourhood." 

/40  to  Edmund  Lambert,  of  ^        i       i  ■     .-r     n 

~     ji         r  .     .  "t,  as  has  been  scientifically  ascer- 

tender  of  repayment  at  an  ag.  '  ^ 

^  ^  s,  that  the  cuckoo  has  a  habit  of 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Notes 

laying  her  eggs  in  the  hedge-sparrow's  nest,  and  leaving  them 
there  to  be  hatched  by  the  owner.  The  cuckoo  chickens  are  then 
cherished,  fed,  and  cared  for  by  the  sparrow  as  her  own  children, 
until  they  grow  so  large  as  to  "  oppress  her  nest,"  and  become  so 
greedy  as  to  frighten  and  finally  drive  away  their  feeder  from  her 
own  home,  and  from  the  objects  of  her  tender  solicitude.  Thus 
Dr.  Jenner,  writing  in  1787 :  "  I  examined  the  nest  of  a  hedge- 
sparrow,  which  then  contained  a  cuckoo  and  three  hedge-spar- 
rows' eggs."  And  Colonel  Montagu  found  a  cuckoo  "  a  few  days 
old  in  a  hedge-sparrow's  nest,  in  a  garden  close  to  a  cottage." 
Something  of  the  same  kind  is  affirmed  of  the  cuckoo  and  titlark 
in  Holland's  Pliny,  which  first  came  out  in  1601,  some  years  after 
this  play  was  written :  "  The  Titling,  therefore,  that  sitteth,  being 
thus  deceived,  hatcheth  the  egge,  and  bringeth  up  the  chicke  of 
another  bird ;  and  this  she  doth  so  long,  untill  the  young  cuckow, 
being  once  fledge  and  readie  to  flie  abroad,  is  so  bold  as  to  seize 
upon  the  old  titling,  and  eat  her  up  that  hatched  her."  Shake- 
speare seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  notice  how  the  hedge-spar- 
row was  wont  to  be  treated  by  that  naughty  bird. 

122.  bestride  me: — In  the  battle  of  Agincourt,  Prince  Henry, 
who  was  then  king,  did  this  act  of  friendship  for  his  brother  the 
Duke  of  Gloucester. 

Scene  II. 

29.  Deliver  up  .  .  .  Westmoreland : — He  had  been  retained 
by  Hotspur  in  pledge  for  the  safe  return  of  Worcester. 

Scene  III. 

58.  Well,  if  Percy  he  alive,  I'll  pierce  him: — This  is  addressed 
to  the  Prince  as  he  goes  out ;  the  rest  of  the  speech  is  soliloquy. 
The  play  on  Percy  indicates  that  the  first  syllable  of  this  name  and 
the  word  pierce  had  the  same  sound. 

Scene  IV. 

[Another  part  of  the  Held.]  Ulrici  says:  "  In  the  first  part  [of 
Henry  IV.]  the  battle  of  Shrewsbury  forms  the  catastrophe,  the 
centre  and  aim  of  the  action.  In  this  part  the  nature  of  feudalism 
is  represented  more  from  its  chivalrous  aspect.  The  barons,  in 
whom   this   element   predominates,    who   are   more   knights   than 

179 


Notes  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

feudal  lords — Percy,  Douglas,  Mortimer  and  Blunt — are  the  lead- 
ers of  the  events.  Hence  we  have  here,  of  course,  preeminently  a 
representation  of  the  nature  of  personal  prowess,  the  foundation 
of  chivalry.  Percy  is  the  representative  of  that  inborn,  natural 
valour,  that  unbridled  conceit  in  the  power  of  the  individual  I 
that  reckless  courage  of  the  knight  errant  which  heedlessly  throws 
itself  into  danger,  nay,  which  finds  pleasure  in  it,  and  seeks  for  it 
because  it  is  necessary  for  the  development  of  his  nature,  for  hij 
enjoyment  and  for  the  gratification  of  his  ambition.  Princf 
Henry,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  representative  of  that  other  and 
higher  valour  which  is  of  an  entirely  intellectual  nature,  (insist- 
ing in  the  mind's  conscious  superiority  over  danger,  whether  it  be 
to  overcome  it,  or  to  remain  the  victor  in  spite  of  being  apparently 
vanquished." 

35-38.  /  fear,  etc.: — The  matter  is  thus  delivered  by  Holinshed: 
"  This  battell  lasted  three  long  houres,  with  indifferent  fortune 
on  both  parts,  till  at  length  the  King,  crieng  saint  George,  vic- 
torie,  brake  the  arraie  of  his  enemies,  and  adventured  so  farre,  that 
(as  some  write)  the  earle  Dowglas  strakCj  him  downee,  and  at  that 
instant  slue  sir  Walter  Blunt  and  three  others,  apparalled  in  the 
Kings  sute  and  clothing,  saieng,  I  marvell  to  see  so  many  kings 
thus  suddenlie  arise,  one  in  the  necke  of  an  other.  The  King  in- 
deed was  raised,  and  did  that  daie  manie  a  noble  feat  of  armes ; 
for,  as  it  is  written,  he  slue  that  daie  with  his  owne  hands  six  and 
thirtie  persons  of  his  enemies." 

98.  these  fair  rites,  etc.: — "The  old  chivalrous  times,"  says 
Clarke,  "  afforded  many  instances  of  these  acts  of  gentle  observ- 
ance between  mutually  adverse  knights,  when  one  was  over- 
thrown ;  and  Shakespeare  has  here  commemorated  a  specially 
beautiful  one,  by  making  his  hero  to  screen  a  foe's  mangled  face 
in  the  moment  of  death,  amid  the  turmoil  and  distortion  of  a 
battle-field." 

151,  152.  Z7:V  Shrewsbury  clock: — In  mentioning  this  church- 
clock  by  its  name,  Shakespeare  gives  the  humorous  effect  of  pre- 
tended exactness  to  Falstaff's  account  of  his  exploit,  and  also  re- 
minds the  audience  of  the  exact  site  of  the  scene  they  are  witness- 
ing, and  the  great  event  then  enacting — the  battle  of  Shrewsbury. 

Scene  V. 

I.  Thus  ever  did  rebellion  find  rebuke: — The  conclusion  of  the 
whole  matter  may  be  thus  summarized  from  Holinshed:     The 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Notes 

Prince  that  day  holp  his  father  like  a  lusty  young  gentleman ; 
for  although  he  was  hurt  in  the  face  with  an  arrow  so  that  divers 
noblemen  that  were  about  him  would  have  conveyed  him  forth  of 
the  field,  yet  he  would  not  suffer  them  so  to  do,  lest  his  departure 
from  amongst  his  men  might  happily  have  stricken  some  fear 
into  their  hearts.  The  Prince,  encouraged  by  his  father's  doings, 
fought  valiantly,  and  slew  the  Lord  Percy,  called  Sir  Henry  Hot- 
spur. To  conclude,  the  King's  enemies  were  vanquished  and  put 
to  flight;  in  which  flight  the  Earl  of  Douglas,  for  haste,  falling 
from  the  crag  of  a  high  mountain,  was  taken,  and,  for  his  valiant- 
ness  of  the  King  frankly  and  freely  delivered.  There  were  also 
taken  the  Earl  of  Worcester,  the  procurer  and  setter-forth  of  all 
this  mischief,  Sir  Richard  Vernon,  with  divers  other.  The  Earl 
of  Worcester,  the  Baron  of  Kinderton  and  Sir  Richard  Vernon, 
knights,  were  condemned  and  beheaded. 


a3t 


THE  FIRST  PART  OF 


Questions  on  1  Henry  IV. 

1.  In  the  order  of  historic  chronology,  where  does  the  present 
phiv  belong  among  the  historical  dramas  of  Shakespeare? 

2.  When  was  it  probably  written? 

3.  What  evidences  of  maturity  have  been  noted  in  this  play  as 
compared  with  King  John,  Richard  II.,  and  Richard  III.? 

4.  Mention  the  sources  of  the  play.  Point  out  some  historical 
inaccuracies. 

ACT  FIRST. 

5.  Review  the  part  played  by  Bolingbroke  in  the  preceding 
drama,  Richard  II.  How  does  King  Hi^nry  review  this  in  the 
opening  speech  of  the  present  play? 

6.  Define  the  literary  quality  of  this  speech. 

7.  To  what  enterprise  is  the  King  about  to  turn  his  attention  ? 

8.  What  reports  of  troubles  in  Wales  and  in  the  north  put  aside 
the  King's  enterprise? 

9.  How  are  Harry  Percy  and  Prince  Hal  first  shown  in  con- 
trast? What  theme,  sounded  in  various  keys  throughout  this 
play,  is  first  given  out  in  the  King's  speech? 

10.  Is  the  purpose  of  the  play  to  demonstrate  the  irony  of  the 
King's  feeling  about  Prince  Hal? 

11.  What  is  Worcester's  attitude  towards  the  King?  What 
position  has  Percy  taken  which  foreshadows  rupture  with  the 
King? 

12.  Where  does  Sc.  ii.  take  place?  What  is  implied  by  not  in- 
troducing a  common  meeting-ground,  such  as  a  tavern? 

13.  How  is  Falstafif's  habit  of  life  presented  at  the  opening  of 
Sc.  ii.?  Comment  upon  his  good  nature,  his  imagination,  his 
mental  alertness,  his  ability  to  win  laughter  and  good-humoured 
toleration. 

14.  What  is  implied  by  the  term  buff  jerkin  ?  How  is  it  used 
twice  in  this  play? 

15.  Tell  what  is  implied  by  the  Prince's  application  to  Falstaff 
of  th$  terms,  thou  latter  spring!     .     .     .     All-hallozvn  summer! 

182 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Questions 

i6.  Show  the  purpose  in  the  elucidation  of  Falstaff's  character 
of  the  robbery  plotted  in  the  latter  half  of  Sc.  ii. 

17.  Comment  on  the  bearing  of  the  Prince  towards  his  asso- 
ciates. Does  it  prepare  one  for  the  soliloquy  with  which  the 
Scene  closes?  What  is  the  dramatic  purpose  of  this  soliloquy  in 
the  larger  scheme  of  the  drama?    Where  is  its  correlative? 

18.  Can  one  escape  the  feeling  that  the  Prince  is  a  prig?  Does 
Shakespeare  intend  that  an  impression  unfavourable  to  the  Prince 
shall  be  derived?    What  led  the  Prince  to  choose  such  associates? 

19.  What  traits  does  Sc.  iii.  show  in  the  King  that  have  been 
already  discerned  in  the  Prince? 

20.  Who  was  dismissed  from  the  council  ? 

21.  What  impression  of  Hotspur  do  you  get  from  his  defense  of 
himself  to  the  King?   Characterize  Blunt's  speech  (line  70  et  seq.). 

22.  Relative  to  Mortimer,  what  request  did  Hotspur  make  of  the 
King,  and  how  was  it  answered?  What  confusion  does  Shake- 
speare make  in  this  discussion  of  Mortimer  of  two  individuals 
bearing  that  name? 

2^.  Who  was  Richard,  that  sweet  lovely  rose'?  What  are  the 
facts  relative  to  him  here  alluded  to?    Why  the  above  epithet? 

24.  How  does  Worcester  characterize  the  speech  of  Hotspur? 
Does  the  Poet  overdo  Hotspur  in  this  place,  or  is  his  vehemence 
of  language  natural  to  one  of  his  temperament? 

25.  Who  proposes  the  plot?  How  was  the  act  foreshadowed? 
What  details  of  the  plot  are  formulated?    Wherein  is  it  weak? 

ACT  SECOND. 

26.  Show  how  Sc.  i.  prepares  for  the  second  Scene  by  suggest- 
ing the  action  and  the  actors,  also  by  creating  the  proper  atmos- 
phere. 

27.  What  clue  to  his  nature  does  Falstaff  afford  in  his  soliloquy 
(Sc.  ii.)  that  helps  us  to  understand  his  non-moral  character? 

28.  Who  is  the  probable  writer  of  the  letter  shown  at  the  open- 
ing of  Sc.  iii.?  Why  was  the  author  left  unnamed?  What  part 
does  the  letter  play  in  the  evolution  of  the  plot? 

29.  What  type  of  woman  was  Lady  Percy? 

30.  What  side  of  his  nature  does  Hotspur  show  to  women? 
Especially  note  the  effect  of  Hotspur's  rejoinder  after  Lady 
Percy's  long  speech.  Wliat  was  Percy's  preoccupation  of  mind 
during  her  delivery  of  it? 

*  ,83 


Questions  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

31.  Was  the  purpose  of  the  dramatist  (Sc.  iv.)  any  other  than 
that  alleged  by  the  Prince  in  presenting  the  joke  played  upon 
the  drawer  Francis? 

S2.  Explain  and  account  for  the  mood  of  the  Prince  shown  in 
lines  107-122  of  Sc.  iv. 

SS.  Explain  Falstaff's  allusion  in  line  147  ct  seq.  What  is  the 
humour  of  it? 

34.  Why  does  Poins  instead  of  the  Prince  take  up  Falstafif's 
accusation  of  coward?  What  trait  of  Falstaff  is  immediately 
exploited? 

35.  Why  does  the  lying  of  Falstaff  not  offend  our  moral 
scruples  ? 

36.  What  dramatic  expedient  temporarily  takes  Falstaff  out  of 
the  Scene  after  line  317?    What  is  the  quality  of  Bardolph's  wit? 

S7.  Contrast  the  power  of  creating  humorous  diversion  pos- 
sessed respectively  by  the  Prince  and  by  Falstaff,  as  seen  in  the 
Francis  episode  and  in  the  mock  scene  of  the  Prince's  examina- 
tion by  his  father. 

38.  What  subtle  purpose  has  Falstaff  in  openly  playing  false  to 
his  associates  in  friendship  with  the  Prince? 

39.  What  two  threads  tie  the  action  with  subsequent  scenes  ? 

ACT  THIRD. 

40.  What  fantastic  qualities  are  displayed  by  Glendower?  Why 
fantastic  rather  than  poetic?     Are  these  traits  racial? 

41.  Why  does  Percy  enter  upon  a  bickering-match  with  him? 

42.  How  does  the  tripartite  division  of  England  among  the  re- 
volters  help  to  point  the  weakness  of  the  insurrection  ? 

43.  What  eft'ect  is  produced  by  the  dispute  over  the  equality  of 
the  division  ? 

44.  What  is  the  purpose  of  the  scene  with  the  ladies?  Indicate 
the  effect  of  music  here.  How  does  this  scene  help  to  foreshadow 
the  failure  of  the  revolt? 

45.  In  what  way  is  the  conscience  of  the  King  troubled?  How 
does  he  believe  himself  punished? 

46.  By  what  means  did  Henry  secure  the  good-will  of  the 
people,  and  hence  the  throne?  How  does  he  describe  the  habit  of 
Richard  II.? 

47.  What  is  Henry's  attitude  towards   Prince  Hal?     What   is 

tS4 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Questions 

the  Prince's  attitude  towards  his  father?     Does  the  King  under- 
stand the  Prince? 

48.  In  Scene  ii.,  after  Hne  128,  how  might  King  Henry  have 
gone  on  and  unfolded  to  the  Prince  the  rationale  of  the  revolt 
and  seen  in  it,  as  regards  himself,  a  visitation  of  nemesis? 

49.  How  much  of  the  philosophic  temper  had  he,  added  to  his 
immense  practical  resourcefulness? 

50.  Comment  on  the  artfulness  of  the  King  in  touching  the 
chord  most  calculated  to  arouse  the  loyalty  of  the  Prince. 

51.  What  is  the  effect  of  Scenes  i.  and  ii.  shown  in  contrast? 
Where  is  the  climax  of  the  play?  What  Napoleonic  policy  does 
the  King  profess  at  the  end  of  Sc.  ii.  ? 

52.  What  is  the  humorous  effect  of  Falstaff's  laying  his  faults 
On  the  company  he  keeps?  How  does  Falstaff  disclose  the  man- 
ner of  his  return  from  the  Gadshill  expedition? 

53.  Compare  Falstaff's  scolding-match  with  Dame  Quickly  with 
that  between  Hotspur  and  Glendower. 

54.  How  does  Falstaff  end  the  quarrel  with  the  Hostess? 

ACT  FOURTH. 

55.  Mention  the  various  speeches  of  compliment  to  Douglas 
that  the  play  contains. 

56.  What  is  the  first  stage  in  the  fall  of  the  action?  On  what 
ground  does  Northumberland  urge  the  prosecution  of  the  plans  ? 

57.  What  face  does  Hotspur  put  on  the  absence  of  Northum- 
berland to  show  to  the  advantage  of  the  insurgents? 

58.  What  effect  is  produced  by  the  manner  of  presenting  the 
character  of  the  opposition  coming  to  meet  them  and  the  curtail- 
ment of  their  own  forces?  Comment  on  the  demonic  power  dis- 
played by  Percy. 

59.  How  does  he  speak  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  ? 

60.  How  is  it  shown  that  the  cause  is  lost  even  before  the  fight- 
ing begins? 

61.  How  did  Falstaff  recruit  his  regiment?  How  does  he  de- 
scribe it?  What  is  Falstaff's  state  of  mind  in  delivering  his 
soliloquy  in  Sc.  ii.  ? 

62.  How  is  the  council  of  war  (Sc.  iii.)  divided  in  opinion? 
What  message  is  received  from  the  King? 

63.  What  facts  concerning  Henry,  not  already  presented  in  the 

185 


Questions  THE  FIRST  PART  OF 

play,  does  Hotspur  advance?    What  facts  contained  in  the  earHer 
parts  of  the  play  does  Hotspur  rehearse? 

64.  How  has  the  Archbishop  of  York  been  referred  to  in  earlier 
parts  of  the  play?    Estimate  his  character  as  displayed  in  Sc.  iv. 


ACT  FIFTH. 

65.  What  was  the  appearance  of  the  sky  on  the  day  of  the 
battle?  What  is  the  purpose  of  the  visit  of  Worcester  and  Ver- 
non to  the  King?    Of  what  does  Worcester  accuse  the  King? 

66.  Is  this  speech  of  Worcester  necessary  for  purposes  of  ex- 
position ? 

67.  What  message  does  the  Prince  send  to  Hotspur? 

68.  What  is  the  effect  of  the  Prince's  rebuke  to  Falstaff  in  line 
29,  Sc.  1.? 

69.  In  what  different  lights,  in  the  course  of  the  play,  has  the 
subject  of  honour  been  presented?  Show  the  humour  of  Falstaff's 
arguments ;    their  common  sense  and  their  fallacy. 

70.  Is  Worcester's  temper  more  that  of  the  statesman  than  that 
of  the  soldier?  Had  he  lost  heart  in  his  affair  after  his  visit  to  the 
King? 

71.  What  is  the  mood  of  Hotspur  before  the  battle?  What 
hopes  had  he  of  success?  What  is  the  effect  of  Vernon's  recital 
of  praises  of  the  Prince? 

72.  What  was  the  King's  ruse  to  secure  personal  safety  in 
battle?  What  other  ends  did  he  seek  to  effect  by  means  of  this 
same  ruse? 

']'>i-  How  does  Shakespeare  complete  the  characterization  of  the 
King  by  making  him  participate  in  the  active  part  of  the  battle? 

74.  How  does  the  Prince  show  his  magnanimity? 

75.  What  are  Hotspur's  dying  words?  What  emotions  do  they 
arouse?  Compare  the  effect  of  the  death  of  Percy  and  the  death 
of  Hamlet. 

76.  In  Sc.  iv.,  interpret  lines  105,  106:     O,  I  should  have,  etc. 
yy.  To  make  humour  out  of  Falstaff's  desecration  of  the  dead 

body  of  Percy  argues  what  for  Elizabethan  sensibilities? 

78.  Does  Falstaff  even  redeem  himself  by  the  superb  impudence 
of  his  claiming  to  be  the  slayer  of  Percy?  With  what  resolution 
does  Falstaff  quit  the  scene?    Comment  on  the  spirit  of  it. 

79.  Does  poetic  justice  approve  the  fates  of  Worcester,  Vernon, 
and  Douglas? 

186 


KING  HENRY  IV.  Questions 

80.  Does  the  play  show  that  the  ends  of  righteousness  are  some- 
times best  met  by  the  arm  of  the  strongest? 

81.  How  was  it  that  Henry  maintained  his  right  to  the  throne? 

82.  What  is  the  underlying  philosophy  of  this  play? 

83.  Does  the  humorous  interest  outweigh  the  serious? 

84.  Whom  do  you  regard  as  the  hero  of  the  play? 

85.  Does  Hotspur  or  Prince  Hal  enlist  your  sympathies?  Do 
you  feel  any  shock  to  poetic  justice  in  the  death  of  Hotspur? 
Where  in  2  Henry  IV.  are  there  additional  touches  to  his  por- 
trait ? 

See  also  general  questions  at  the  end  of  2  Henry  IV. 


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